


About chaos and stars

by Yuuko_Ichihara



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Post-Apocalypse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-12
Updated: 2013-06-29
Packaged: 2017-12-08 06:55:14
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 25
Words: 31,651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/758390
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Yuuko_Ichihara/pseuds/Yuuko_Ichihara
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alternative Universe, a post-apocalyptic one where humanity needed to reconstruct itself and is now very industrialized. Reconstruction started decades ago – with some struggles – and leading houses in the continent of Westeros struggle for control on the sources and provision of energy. Though the society considers itself progressive now prejudice and abuse have not disappeared. In the middle of this mess Brienne has been given the assignment to escort Jaime Lannister to King's Landing city in exchange for Sansa Stark.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Brienne

**Author's Note:**

  * For [BrienneofThrace](https://archiveofourown.org/users/BrienneofThrace/gifts).



> Brienneofthrace mentioned the idea of steampunk and I decided to give it a try. Not sure how steampunk this is but mostly post-apocalyptic. Many years ago some big disaster happened and the humanity had to re arrange much of it's way of live to survive. The pressure to re-install humanity falls over all but there are still some wars. There are going to be some hints of Neon Genesis Evangelion, just because. I changed some things, many things, because I did not want to involve that many people. More than steam, I wanted there to be many different energy sources. I'm still working on this, don't know how many chapters it will have. Anyway, enjoy!

Tired and dirty after working so many hours in the engine of her small airship _Sword_ , as she liked to call it, she turned all lights off and went to her chamber. After checking that the alarms, sensors and screens were working she went to change. It had been a busy day and the war was far from over. Cameras were not enough anymore, almost transparent spherical cameras from the Lioness were spotted more than once during the last days. They were getting desperate to recover her brother from the cold hands of the Stark Enterprises.

 

Brienne did not know the Commander of the Northern Lands, Robb Stark. She worked for Lady Catelyn, the only one who defended her innocence after the mysterious death of her previous Commander Lord Renly Baratheon. The clock Lady Catelyn kept in her complex but beautiful corset was a hidden camera, the only one that had worked that strange night, a design by Arya Stark, it used kinetic energy, unlike the other cameras... A fog had arrived, planes and bikes stopped working, she was checking them with her Commander when the fog involved him and one minute later he was dead. It had all the signs indicating an attack by Stannis and the Red Woman. She was famous for being able find inexplicable ways to plant cameras at the most complex places and for being able to decipher and cause interference in all her enemy camps. How did that fog killed Lord Renly even inside his pilot gear, she could not tell.

 

Despite her innocence she knew that without him there was no future for her in that camp. The group disbanded as quickly as the morning after his death. She could not let Lady Catelyn return to her son's compound alone, she would not have survived. The ferocious plants would cover the area 2 days later. After the last war against the Others, the strange creatures of the North, and the bombs that have almost wiped out the human race, months of radiation had change the aspect of many plants and animals.

 

Wolf were bigger than once before and many reptiles as well, some even talked about dragons. Plants were the same, while some remained unchanged others, the pioneers, were faster now and harder to remove, full of spines and some even of venom. The alarms and protection field were not only due to the human enemies now. Biologist were strongly required in any compound, a plant that seemed food could actually be one of the venomous one or one of those that cover fields in a matter of seconds. The towns that survived were now built sustained by high structures, in order to avoid the plant invasion that occurred when an idiot used the wrong seed, or when an enemy did the same on purpose. Brandon Stark was known for having a natural ability with plants and Rickon Stark with animals. Despite their young years they were required here. It was known that Arya Stark was a genius with machines and that Sansa was being trained in politics but they remained captured by the Lannisters.

 

When she was about to throw herself to her bed she saw it and sighed. _Another_ corset... A purple one this time. Lady Catelyn had been trying to convince her that she would look better in one of them and that they were pretty useful. It was true they had many holes to put bullets, guns and even clock-like-cameras like the one that had proven her innocence but still she felt ridiculous inside them. She did not have enough breasts to wear them and if she had once tried to wear nothing but the corset on her upper body – like the Lioness was known to do – then everybody would have seen how small they were. No, she felt more comfortable with her pants and her jacket, they had enough hidden holes for all her guns and gadgets.

 

A _Raven_ – another spheric robot, _Ravens_ were black and used to carry messages- arrived the following day. Lady Catelyn went to the control cabin taking Brienne with her, Arya Stark had vanished soon after her father's fusillade, a wolf spy had managed to infiltrate and send the information to the compound. It was believed she was dead, no one could survive the wild forests alone these days. Lady Catelyn could not control her grief and cried on her room for a day. Brienne could only hold her and listen to her. She was beyond herself with grief, the last video conference with Arya had ended very badly when Arya said she wanted to kill Joffrey, the heir of King Landing's industrial city, the biggest on Westeros, also heir to the Lannister Corporation and a perfect match for Sansa Stark according to the software. It had been too dangerous to say that out loud, she shouted at Arya and tried to downplay what her daughter had said but Arya had not understood. The young girl had taken her complains seriously and shouted back.

 

She continued telling her she had lost her husband, her father and now her child to this war. On one side, they had done all to rescue her husband and kids, but the real reason was that the North required to be governed by itself. The Lions could not understand that the Northern Lands demands of energy were higher than theirs. The North required new technology and the Lannisters did not want to lose monopoly or leadership on the energy production. The Starks were remarkably good and inventive when it came to new technologies – biogas, geothermic, kinetic energy – and they had been experimenting on them in secret for too long. They needed to be free to try them and the Lannisters had become impossibly bureaucratic. In these times, when a failing protective shield could mean the end of their crops and a certain death in minutes – especially for those who could not afford floating or high structures – there was no time for bureaucracy.

 

The weather in the South was nicer and less dangerous plants and animals roamed there compared to the North. Some villages even seemed to have managed to survive without protective fields. There was rumor that in reality they were using solar energy without paying for the Lion taxes, or that somehow they have managed to tame monsters and venomous plants alike. No one could tell for sure. Even then, the wild forest that surrounded King's Landing was as wild and dangerous as any other in the North. It was very unlikely that a 12 year old could survive it, even one as clever as Arya.

 

When the day had almost ended she took Brienne to the cell where they kept that monstrous Lion called Jaime. He was renowned for being a good pilot and a better gunman, it was said that no one had better aim than him. He was also infamously known for the one who had betrayed his Commander many years ago. She could not stand the sight of him, a man that had spat on all that she believed to be sacred but still had not been expelled from the White Army.

 

He laughed and made jokes about how big Brienne was, about how little he cared that they called him traitor and how idiotic are people who believe in keeping oaths. He was obviously drunk, Lady Catelyn had seen to that. He confessed to having thrown Brandon from the window of the tower. Brandon could have died, could have fell even lower, to where the crops were, but the weirwood had saved him. He still had lost the ability to walk and his legs had to be changed to robotic ones. The monster insisted that Brandon had spied him and his sister. He was not ashamed of loving his sister, even when the genetic disadvantage of having kids through that union was explained to him by Lady Catelyn. Irresponsible was not even starting to cover it. That was a crime against humanity. A world such as the one they lived in, where humanity was still being reconstructed and they needed strong kids that could grow into stronger adults. They were looking for all possible ways to eradicate all type of diseases and what he and his sister did jeopardized bringing back long since eradicated diseases back. It was too much risk. That men was a selfish monster.

 

By the end of that strange “interview” she was sure Lady Catelyn was going to kill him when she asked for her gun. Reluctantly, she gave it to her but the beautiful lady only pointed it at Jaime and made him promise to never attack the wolfs or the fishes and that he was going to give her daughter Sansa back to her. Then she extracted what looked like a mirror from her corset but when she opened it it was full of buttons. She pressed in a combination Brienne did not know and a noise of shutting down was heard. The cameras were down and the cell opened.

 

“Take _Sword_ and here you have provisions, use the underground tunnels, no one has been using them in ages, no plant can grow there and I know you just installed that radar interference gadget so you should be fine”

 

“Lady Catelyn, that gadget is still in beta stage... it might work though” she said a bit unconvinced, she owed her so she said “Of course, please take care of yourself while I'm gone” and grabbed that drunken monster, dragging him to the hangar. She needed to be quick, guards were probably alerted by now that one area was suffering malfunctions. She feared for Lady Catelyn but there was nothing else she could do but obey.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case someone notices, the title refers to this phrase “You must have chaos within you to give birth to a dancing star” (Nietzsche)


	2. Jaime

When he woke up he felt dizzy, still recovering from that terrible wine they had given him. _Never trust a cup given to you by someone whose allegiances you doubt_ had said Tyrion to him many times. What would have he said to him when he told him about accepting wine from the enemy? He would have probably laughed at his stupidity. 

 

Looking around he realized he was tied to a chair and that he was inside someone's ship. It did not seem to be a big one though. Next to him but not as close was the biggest woman he had ever seen.

 

“Hey you, where are we?” No answer was given to him.

 

“I'm talking to you, come on, answer me!” She still kept on driving.

 

“You know, it is very unhealthy to stay sitting for many hours without moving, it is even less healthy to drive a flying can like this all alone for several hours. I mean, not really unhealthy except for the fact that you might become tired and then we could crash. In that sense, yes it can be called unhealthy, wouldn't you agree? You probably need my help”

 

She stood quiet but sighed, he was getting somewhere. “You know, I am a very good pilot, better than you, no doubt”

 

“Why are you so sure about that?”

 

Aha, a reply, she was no robot after all. “Well, I have defeated many in my _Golden Lion_ as you might have heard and just seeing you drive this now makes me see that I can beat you any time I would want to. That gun you carry there, can you even use it? I bet I can win you at that as well”

 

“It is irrelevant, traitor, I am not interested in your stupid babbling and you were defeated by the Stark army anyway”

 

“Now she even calls me names, when did we became so close, darling? Should I start giving you names as well, what about pumpkin? Or maybe honey? Maybe you ate too much of both to become that big, wench” she was angry now and that made him smile, she deserved that for annoying him.

 

“Shut up, traitor”

 

“I bet you don't even know how to use a knife, maybe you will need to untie me so that I can cut cheese for you”

 

“Just shut up” 

 

“Oh, you know how to use a knife as well? What else do you know? You are so multifaceted it impresses me, wench, next you are going to tell me you are a mathematician as well” he laughed.

 

Another sigh this was too easy. “Do tell me about yourself, we have a long way to go, we should talk” 

 

“There is nothing to say”

 

“Really? A big woman like you must have so many stories. About your loved ones, for example. You must have broken many hearts when you were younger. Do you like men?” She blushed so he continued “there are probably many juicy stories even inside this little can of yours, maybe you used this same chair to sit on top of a lover, tore his shirt into pieces and fuck him senseless”

 

Her face was so red now she could explode any minute now. “Maybe that is why you tied me here, maybe I remind you of him, maybe you are into some serious kinkiness”

 

“Shut up already, when are you going to stop talking?!” she finally screamed at him.

 

“Oh forgive me, I spent way too much time alone in that cell, it can drive a man crazy and I got used to talk alone so I need someone to talk to me, please?” 

 

She ignored him. 

 

“Please, at least tell me your name”

 

Silence.

 

“Really, you plan to bore me to death, wench?”

 

“Brienne of Tarth”

 

“Oh, the Sapphire lady then” a little admiration escaped with those words, and he wished she did not notice. The Sapphire island it was called. Not because it was made out of Sapphires but because it was blue and floated over the sea, it used a complex mixture of hydro-electrical power and bio-gas processed by several different fungi for its sustenance. The blue was due again to bio-luminescent fungi that were kept on capsules on the whole structure. Ser Selwyn Tarth was a known mycologist and his discoveries had helped sustain the structure and its people. Many improvements in the aviation in that area were said to be due to her. It should not have surprised him that much, in these days one needed to have at least some intelligence to survive away from home.

 

She did not dress as other women did though. She was not wearing tight leather pants, or complex skirts, tights with flower drawings or a corset. Instead there were pants, a belt with a pair of guns, a plate and a long black jacket. It might be for the better, Cersei looked beautiful in any of her several corsets but this woman would look simply ridiculous.

 

“I do not pretend to be a lady”

 

“I can tell that much”

 

She looked briefly at him. _But her eyes are pretty_ he was surprised to think.

 

“Now do tell me, what are you doing so far away from your precious Sapphire Island?”

 

“I am taking you to King's Landing”

 

“Not that, I am asking how did you get involved in this? Your _Island_ is one of the best examples of self sustainability among the living structures left standing after the last war, 17 years ago. You have nothing to win from this. How did you became involved with the Starks?”

 

“I work for Lady Catelyn”

 

“A fair lady that one, a pity she became a widow so unexpectedly. Still, how did you came into her service?”

 

“It does not concern you”

 

“Of course it doesn't but still... it is difficult to start a conversation with you, wench, you must tell me something”

 

“I have no intentions to do that”

 

He needed to find a soft spot, this stubborn woman was harder than he had imagined. “Are you in love with her?”

 

“No, I'm not”

 

“Then, as imagined, you are into men. Maybe you served someone you loved. Stannis?”

 

“Never!” and her face was pure disgust. 

 

“Renly?” He saw her blush “Oh no, really? That guy did not called it's band of groupies _The Rainbow Guard_ in vain, you should have known! Everyone knew it, it was no mystery. Some say he and Loras even married, why else would they have donated almost monthly to the Sperm Bank?” Homosexuality was accepted but every man that did not produced children had to donate at least once in his life. In important houses – those with good genetic background – the pressure to reproduce was very high. Renly was expected to have a child to continue the line of succession of the stag-shapped Baratheon city. None of the surrogate mothers had been successful though. 

 

“It is none of your concern”

 

“No, but it should be of yours that I really need to use your toilet now, otherwise you will start smelling something quite disgusting in a couple of minutes”

 

Another sigh. She pushed some buttons and he recognized the command for automatic pilot. “Seriously, you can use that and you rather stay sitting there?” she grabbed him, pressed other buttons to free him from the chair, put a gun behind his back and pushed him towards the toilet.

 

The toilet had no way out, he checked and checked to no avail. The ugly woman opened the door. “You have been here long enough, let's go”

 

“Honestly, wench, I do need to stretch my legs. Food and water would also be appreciated. You need me alive after all”

 

“Walk”

 

“You could not be more boring if you tried, wench”

 

He was tied again to his chair. Bored and hungry. She left him have some freedom on his arms, but still he could not reach the controls that would free him and it would take him too long to untie himself to be really able to reach them. She searched in the bag Lady Stark had given her and tossed a pair of pastries and a thermos with water. However fast she tried to put it back in, he did notice there was a corset among all the things inside the bag. 

 

“Plan on assisting some party, wench?” He could see, even feel, how uncomfortable she was now.

 

“I did not put it there”

 

“Oh, so your boss wants you to look prettier then, does she complain a lot about your services?”

 

“She does not”

 

“Of course she does, otherwise she would not have put that there. It is blue, it might even suit you”

 

“Or it might suit you, if you keep talking that much I might try and put it in your face”

 

“I will probably look prettier than you”

 

An annoying sound interrupted her response and she run to check the panel. She tied him very tightly and sat. It was all very well organized, she did not seem to be nervous by the fact that a pair of ships were following them. “You should let me go, wench, I can help you pilot this can, we can escape them”

 

She did not reply and just continued working on the controls, pressing different buttons, pulling the high speed crowbar and grabbing the wheel. Every inch of her transpired determination. 

 

They were still out of sight but how come these ships did not detect them? The moment they could see them a transmission was heard. 

 

“Identify yourself, we received reports and are looking for a similar ship as yours, indicate who you are or we will open fire”

 

“I have orders to transport an object to King's Landing, my allegiances are to the Starks”

 

“Lady Brienne, we order you to stop or we will open fire. This is our last warning” Another voice was heard “Ridiculous and stupid woman, just give us the _object_ and we may let you go without harm. _Who would want to touch that anyway?_ ”. _Shut up, that's not the protocol_ was heard distantly but then no more communication attempts were made.

 

Two minutes later they skipped the first shot, then came a second, a third, and then more than he could count. She drove her can swiftly as water, it was almost as if she could see where were they going to shoot. They were still approaching them dangerously though.

 

After clicking a button a round structure appeared in front of her, she opened it and there were more buttons and a joystick. She moved it and pushed the button on top of the joystick. A thunderous noise was heard and he saw on one monitor how part of the tunnel fell on top of them, crushing them immediately.

 

“Do you know these tunnels that well, my lady?” he said surprised

 

“I know how tunnels are made, I am used to them, we use them sometimes on the South, these are very old and that structure was going to fall soon enough”

 

“How are you going to return now?” 

 

“Who said this was the only way back, traitor?” 

 

“Back to the pretty names, then, should I call you _my love_ , _my fair lady_? I think I'll just stay with wench. Have you ever been someone's love?”

 

She turned the automatic pilot on again and grabbed some food.

 

“No? I was quite sure someone must have tried to convince you to go to bed together. You might be a little ugly but you are tall and seem to be in good shape, plus you are known to be smart you have a nice genetic background as well. Some must have tried to get you with child”

 

“Some tried”

 

“But you kicked them all I guess? No one manage to defeat you because they were not good enough. You should give me a chance”

 

“Not a chance in hell”

 

“Why not? You are probably curious and I have experience, I am perfect for you, even bedded my sister and our kids are all healthy. You see, that speech about genetic disorders always arising in these cases is rubbish”

 

She raised an eyebrow. “Offer yourself to someone else”

 

“We could be a perfect combination, kids with my looks and our brains combined, it could result in some pretty amazing kids”

 

“Your brains? Really? We could get very unlucky if they inherit your character and tendencies, then they'll be the most rotten thing that ever existed. No I don't think I want more of your DNA walking around”

 

“Ah, but you did consider it for almost a second, didn't you?”

 

“Just go to sleep” 

 


	3. Brienne

They met no more ships that day. She was terribly tired nonetheless. Jaime did not stop talking and annoying her. She just wanted to sleep. Not much else happened, they ate, went to the toilet and then slept. The following morning then she tied him specially well when she went to take a bath. 

 

She almost finished getting dressed when she heard a strange noise. The chair had just released Jaime. How? She checked herself, her knife was missing. _Stupid! He probably grabbed it when I was tying him and I got distracted because he pretended he was going to kiss me._

 

He opened the door to her room and she pushed it to him. The pain made him lose the knife and she throw it far away with her foot. He tried a hook but she blocked it and hit him with a back punch. They both recoiled, studying each other. “So, the multifaceted wench can also fight?”

 

He tried a combination of hooks, punches and kicks but she dodged and blocked them all and attacked back. “As good a fighter as you are a pilot, interesting, didn't imagine that you could be so fast, fast for a big brute”

 

“Didn't know it was possible to say so many stupid things at once but you showed me otherwise”

 

He kicked aiming at her head but she blocked it. His kicks were very strong, he seemed surprised for a second but when he was turning back into attacking stance he faked two punches at her head and landed a real one on her stomach. It was not flaccid, it was ready to receive the punch and it seemed like it surprised him again. Immediately after that he tried to make her fall but she escaped his kick. He tried other combinations of fake kicks and real ones mixed with hook, punches and kicks but she either blocked or escaped him. He used his elbows, tried to grab her in a lock but she escaped him. It was amazing how strong and fast he was after being imprisoned for a year, he would have been impossible to win if he had been in perfect shape.

 

Her elbow landed on his head and she punched on his chest, he stumbled but recovered in time to dodge a kick, and then he tried a kick but she grabbed his leg and pushed him. Falling on top of him. She trapped him with legs and arms. He tried to push and let himself free but seemed to realize that he could not escape. “Aren't you a strong woman? A perfect lock “ she somehow trusted him even less when he complimented her “... this... it even reminds me of other things, maybe you were thinking of trying them?” and he rubbed his lower body part against hers. Despite herself she felt how her face started to grow hot. 

 

“Stop that disgusting pig!” and she committed the mistake of looking at him when she said that. He would have kissed her if she wouldn't have been so fast. She turned him around and locked his arms with one hand. His hair had brushed his cheeks very slightly and that made her blush more. Pushing him around she reached for her gun and then she heard it. The alarm must have been on for at least 5 minutes by now. There was no time for tying, she placed a security code to the chair, using the panel that was behind it so that he could not open it this time.

 

All was fruitless, they were surrounded by two big ships. Soon they were going reach them, Sword was descending and searching for the best hiding place as she had configured it for these types of situations. She prayed that the radar block will continue working as it had by now, but there were no good hiding place in this precise area. The camouflage was also in beta stage, not even that, there were many changes to be made but she had postponed it. News have reached that the Lions had developed an amazing warm detector. Why care about camouflage when you can still be spotted with that? If they had it, they already knew she was there. She activated the camouflage nonetheless. They were trapped, unable to abandon the ship, the fumes in these tunnels were too poisoned for any type of life. 

 

The ships were now over them. She identified the signs on them, a painting of the Stark banner could be observed but also a strange drawing she could not understand.

 

“Pray they don't find us wench”

 

“They are Stark men, I am following Lady Starks orders” she said almost whispering.

 

“Yes, but those are the Bloody Mummers, the worst scum that ever existed. They are known for all the type of excesses they commit. I even heard they once cut the breast of a woman after raping her for 2 days” he sounded worried and so was she. 

 

“It's a mystery the Silent Sisters had not reached them, then” she mentioned. The Silent Sisters was a rebellious group of unknown people, many said that it was only composed by women, others said it was more varied, some even mentioned hags and gouls. They attacked any soldier group who had abused the no-rape policy signed many years ago and tortured them in gruesome ways.

 

“Oh, they did, but this type of scum manages to reform from time to time. We should have tried to evade them, followed another route”

 

“If you had not distracted me I would have detected them on time and we could have escaped”

 

“If you had not tied me I could have saved us from this dilemma even when you detected them”

 

“Now you even presume to be able to drive my ship better than me? The ship that I've build? Unlikely”

 

“You might be a good fighter but I am still a better pilot than you, I have no doubt”

 

“Just shut up”

 

It seemed they were going to leave. Brienne was holding her breath and was about to let go in relief when _Sword_ started to shake uncontrollably. A gravitational field, they were trapped. 

 


	4. Jaime

They reached above ground but the big wench had a last plan. She let him free and almost reluctantly gave him a gun. “I know you did not promise to spare me, but now we need each other, we may have a chance to escape, please just do as I say”

 

“I also heard they love impaling people so I will spare you wench, for now”

 

“Great” and she placed a command in the panel, grabbed a backpack, a pencil and two masks. “Put this on”.

 

He did and followed when she showed him a door that did not look like one. “A hidden way out, quite smart”

 

“Shut up”

 

“I am trying to be nice here, wench”

 

“And I am trying to listen, please shut up”

 

He heard it then, the noise outside, annoyed grunts, loud noises that seemed to indicate that they were tearing the ship apart from the inside. They reached a wall, she took the pencil and pressed the tip, then pressed other buttons on the wall and put her mask on. The wall opened and they descended. Outside a fog made it difficult to see “Now, run, over there”

 

They almost passed one of the ships when he heard shootings behind him. They were being hunted by a pack of the worst scum. She shoved him behind the ship and they started shooting back. This was not going to work but he was not going to let them take them without a fight. Despite the horrible situation they were in, he could not help noticing that she had a pretty good aim. They were still unharmed but had already taken at least 10 men by now. 

 

“It's very windy, the fog was dissipated too fast” Looking at the forest she continued “We can still reach it, it is not safe but we might survive”

 

“How good a biologist are you wench? Or do you plan to feed me hallucinogenic mushrooms to tame me?” 

 

At that moment a hover appeared in front of them. This time they were really trapped. Five men were pointing their guns at them. They surround them and forced them to throw their guns. Others approach and apprehend them. There was a short struggle but they were defeated soon enough. Brienne protests that she's following Lady Stark orders and if they work for the Starks they should do as commanded. Two of the men reply and indicate where they plan to shove that command if she keeps asking for it. 

 

“You know who I am” he says loudly, their faces indicates so “Let us go and I'll make sure you get all the energy and gold that you need for the rest of your lives” 

 

The fat one approaches them and says “our leader has other plans for you”

 

The one with the badly manufactured fake nose replies “and other plans for her” and laughs. Jaime never felt disgusted by someone else's laugh before. He's sure she must be a virgen, stubborn as she is she still should not be gang raped.

 

He does not understand why but he starts yelling “You might want to reconsider that, despite her face she's got an amazing genetic background and her father is the leader of the Programme Blue Energy, also called Sapphires, she's worth more if you keep her whole”

 

“And what ith that?” A man in pilot suit and a ridiculous goat shaped hat asks.

 

“Is a revolutionary energy producing machine, smaller than your hover even, that only consumes water and very little of it and can last a decade and feed an entire float. You will never depend on the Lannisters or the Starks ever again”

 

Brienne looks confused but luckily these idiots do not notice and seem to believe him. “Well, in dat cathe, lock dethe two on cell 4”.

 

The fat one and the others seem to be wanting to protest when their boss says “But, take our _thample_ before” and they grin again. The fat guy approaches and the other men pin Jaime to the floor 

 

“No, leave him be” Brienne screams and he hears them punching her. The fat man crushes Jaime's hand with his feet and he think he has never felt that much pain in his life when a greater pain supplants it and he screams.

 

 

When he wakes up, he is in a cell and Brienne is tied next to him. 

 

“Jaime” she whispers “how are you?”

 

“Fantastic” his absent hand is killing him and he thinks he will vomit “what do you think wench?”

 

“They say they cauterized it and they gave you painkillers”

 

“Well, they are not working or they wore off already” 

 

She stays quiet for some time then replies. “I... am very... sorry Jaime”

 

“You should have let me free” she is not the one who cut his hand off but he is somehow still angry at her. 

 

Her mouth twists in grimace and then she stays quiet again. Hours later he decides that it makes no sense to blame her.

 

“You did not do it so you should not apologize”

 

“I was supposed to protect you...” she looks sad _why should I care?_

 

This time he stays quiet.

 

“Why did you... why did you lie to them about-?”

 

“Shhh!” he interrupts her trying to lower his voice even more and approaching her. “They better believe it, otherwise they will rape from every hole on your body, they may even make new ones”

 

She blushes but continues “but they can find out if they check-”

 

“Shut up!” he cannot believe that for someone so smart she's being this idiotic “do you think they are not able to hear us? Hope they have such bad qualities video cameras they did not just hear that”

 

Her look now is a mixture of sadness and conflicted thoughts but before she can speak the fat guy, the one with the fake nose and another one, equally disgusting, approach the cell. 

 

“Look what we found in your ship” the fat man is now holding a violet corset. “There were many there, different colors and great quality, we should sell them but we decided you should wear this one first”

 

“Before we cut it with you inside it. I always wanted to fuck a lady” the fake nose dude says. Then they started discussing what was the code for the cell.

 

“Listen, close your eyes and imagine is Renly, think of nice places, do not fight or they will cut you” he whispers to her.

 

“I will not let them have me” she replies.

 

“They are going to torture you if you fight, have you learned nothing by now?” he fails to understand why he cares this much but he's desperate.

 

They have deciphered the code by now. One grabs her by her arms while the other takes her legs, she's too well tied and her attempts to free herself take her nowhere. The fat man gags her and starts putting the corset on her. They laugh at the result. 

 

“No way to make this one look like a lady” fake nose says “I'll take her anyway. We should pin her to the floor with knives”

 

“Ah, but then she would not last that long, remember last time?” the fat man takes his knife, the same detestable one he used on Jaime “ better put her on the floor and don't let her move” and he starts cutting the corset and her skin as well. Brienne's screams are muffled by the gag and he can see a tear rolling down her cheek. 

 

“A pity I gaged you, I love me some lady screaming” the fat man says laughing. 

 

Jaime sees on the monitor that their boss is about to pass the cell chamber door and he gives it a try “Why would you care if she does? Is it because you want SAPPHIRE!!!”

 

Immediately they leave Brienne and start kicking and punching him. At his stump with special intent and he loses conciseness.

 

In between sleep and waking up, he hears how their boss tell them that she needs to stay unharmed so they can access the _thappireth_ , that they should capture some animals if they need so much to fuck something. He changes the code of their cell and assigns guards for them.

 

Jaime is completely exhausted, he wants just to lie there and die. That morning after cleaning him she finally asks “Why did you do it? They hurt you even more”

 

“They were about to rape you, you know?” tired he continues “and it would have been gross, just in front of me, they were probably going to butcher you afterwards, I cannot take the smell, I am more used to the luxurious life you know” he finishes dismissively. 

 

“Oh... in any case, thank you, Jaime, really, thank you”

 

Minutes later when she is trying to make him eat he just gives her his back. 

“Jaime, you have to eat, how are you going to recover?”

 

“I won't. Let me be”

 

“When did you became such a coward?”

 

He looks at her in disbelief “What did you say?”

 

“You know what I said. You should not let yourself die, eat”

 

“Why should I live? everybody thinks I am some terrible monster, even you do, and what joy awaits me anyway, what am I going to win?”

 

“Revenge, get better, regain strength and take your revenge. Make them pay” she says with all the confidence in the world.

 

He just stares at her and lets her feed him. 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, had to rush things, they are flying there so they cannot take forever. I trust medicine is helping Jaime recover faster. I have no idea why am I torturing Brienne like this, I'll try to be nicer from now on.


	5. Brienne

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Modern version of the bath from Brienne's POV

It was the first time in her life that Brienne has fear and pain associated with a corset. True, it was fear that made her scream and cry but there had been pain as well. The sweaty hands that pinned her to the ground, the lust in those revolting men, the knife cutting her skin... she did not want these to be the memories associated with her first time with a man. She had probably read too many stories but she wanted hers to be a romantic night, or day or afternoon. She wanted to want it and to feel wanted. Given time, she was just probably have to accept the next match the researchers found for her but she had hated the previous 3 and fought them. Every time their egos were too hurt after loosing to a young girl in ship race and man-to-man combat so every time their engagement ended broken. She wanted so much to choose at least her first time. She did not know how to thank Jaime enough. It required a lot of effort not to cry when she thanked him.

 

The day after Jaime saved her they arrived at the old building called Harrenhal. It was built with stones and it was very old but it was being renovated and the protective field seemed to work just fine. The place still looked in very bad state though.

 

They were taken to a man called Bolton that said they were his guests now. She complained about how they had treated her and Jaime and this man indicated that _that was a shame and that he apologized_ _for that behavior_. She was then taken to a room and a woman showed her the dresses she could wear. Brienne tried to explain to her that she only wanted pants, a shirt and a jacket but the women just stared at her and showed her those stupid corsets that Lady Catelyn had hidden in her bag. She felt the urge to tore them to pieces but that little woman looked like she would scream at such savage behavior.

 

“You can have them if you want to” Brienne said to her when she recognized the jealousy in her eyes while she stared at them “I really don't think they'll fit me”

 

She looked hopeful for a second and then lowered her gaze and said “Lord Bolton would punish me if he notices that I stole _a Lady_ 's garments”

 

The contempt with which she said _Lady_ did not escape Brienne. Little girls and grown up women were sometimes as cruel or even crueler than most men she had to deal with. With men it was easy, you could challenge them to a fight but with women... Brienne felt that dealing with women had always been like trying to grab a cactus with her bare hands, there was no way she could avoid getting stung. “I will tell him I gave them to you”

 

“So that he punishes me more?” she looked at Brienne with hate now, the room felt suddenly cold “You will wear one of them tonight, but first you will wash yourself”

 

The strange woman took her to a medical doctor who examined and cleaned the scar in her belly. Luckily the cut had not been deep enough and it had not advanced enough either. Then she took her to the bath tubes. It was very nice kept for an old place like this. It was fueled by wood, she had not seen one of this in a long time. However curious she was about the engines she could not help thinking _Are they so afraid of this Bolton, why?_

 

The woman continued to stare at her while she undressed, finally removing the broken clothes she was wearing. It was uncomfortable but at least it was just another woman. The warm water was very relaxing but she had too much to wash. She was so distracted cleaning her arms and hair that if he had not spoken to her, she would not have noticed him.

 

“Do you want to become bald? I do not think it will suit you, wench”. She let the soap fell on the water in surprise, he was completely and gloriously naked... she needed to stop staring. A second later she reacted and covered her breasts, had he seen her? She started breathing faster. _Calm down, he said himself, he has already been with a woman, what you have is nothing_ but the thought only made her more nervous.

 

He then dismissed the woman and the soldier that had come with him saying that _the lady did not want such people to stare at her love bundles_.

 

Just when she though things could not possibly get worse he decided to enter at the same bath tub she was in. It was as if someone had punched her in the stomach, she tried to get away but there was not enough room and their feet still touched.

 

“Why so shy? I am not going to hurt you”

 

She could barely hear him with her heart pounding that loudly, she just prayed he could not hear it.

 

“Come on, wench, you know I do not want you, I had only been teasing you”

 

She still avoided looking at him and then he approached but he was only looking for the soap, his hand barely touched her right thigh.

 

“So tense, do you want a massage? You may need one after all this” he started washing himself, a bit clumsily. “Or maybe you can give me a massage, I've been through a lot you know”

 

She realized she had been holding her breath since he touched her and let the air go with as little noise as possible.

 

“I'm not going to do such a thing, why don't you go to another tube?”

 

“But I'm having a fantastic time in here. Plus you said you wanted to keep me safe, then you need to keep me close”

 

It was so unnerving, just like him to say that.

 

“Plus you should not worry, I wouldn't get near your vagina even if you had the best background in Westeros”

 

That was it, she had enough, she rose and grabbed a towel and for a second she would have sworn she heard him gasp. _Do you find what you see so disgusting? Are you going to laugh at me?_ and she looked at him angry and ready to yell but he was suddenly looking at the wall. _Is he blushing?No, I'm crazy, of course not._ Even then, she looked somewhere else, wrapped herself in the towel and felt slightly more uncomfortable and confused than annoyed now.

 

“I am sorry Brienne, I should not be so rude, you tried very hard to keep me save, I have to acknowledge that, you are an honorable woman”

 

Sighing she said “What should I care what a _traitor_ thinks of me?

 

“And then she comes again with the lovely names, can you please stop, wench? I am too tired of this, use your head and accept my apologies for once”

 

He sounded very annoyed but he had offended her. “You are a traitor, you have to acknowledge _that_. You spat on your vows and broke the confidence people put on you”

 

“Oh, you make it sound like if Commander Aerys was an innocent baby. You know nothing about vows and confidence. People trusted Commander Aerys, he was supposed to protect the city of King's Landing but he had very different plans, I'll have you know. The man had lost it. All Targaryens are mad about finding the _Dragon Stone_ ” He said almost snorting. “Those either disappeared or never existed to begin with, and he was obsessed with espies, he was sure we were all spies, trying to rob him of his stones. He did not even had one. He feared that my father was going to take over the energy supply system, he feared the Stark's new technologies, he feared his own shadow. He started to build bombs, Brienne, one would have wiped out Westeros, he started building 3. Do you understand that? THREE! Do you understand what a waste of resources is that? Is it clear to you how dangerous they were in the hands of that madman? Before all the _traitors_ would catch him he decided it was time to restart humanity. He was convinced a new mutant humanity would rise from the ashes. I killed the head scientist before he could tell Commander Aerys of the good news, the bombs were ready to be launched. Then I killed him and after forcing them to deactivate and dismantle them, I also killed all the mad scientist involved in the project. The new group of researchers re-used the resources as best as possible and signed a clause of confidentiality.”

 

Brienne had a hard time wrapping all those images around her head. Her mouth fell and she did not find anything to say.

 

“Say something you, big wench! Say you believe me, say that it is not possible, come punch me, kiss me or thank me, just react!”

 

“But then.. why? Why is it that someone... why does no one know?”

 

“And let someone got hold of those bombs? Not a chance in hell, I would go and kill the whole new team if some of them open their mouths. Those were something new, very potent, they could even break the protective field of the Vale, no one would have survived... Maybe the madman did have some _Dragon stones_ after all”

 

Pity, surprisingly she was feeling pity for him and also admiration.

 

“You value vows that much, it is just because you are too young. You probably never had conflictive vows” and then he looked at her as if examining her. “On the other hand, you are what? 20, 19? You must have donated ovules by now since you are not married”

 

Flustered she answered “There were candidates...”

 

“But you rejected them, why? Wait, you said that you fought them even, why was that? You think the software failed at its results?”

 

“Is not that” _Why am I telling him this?_ “I just... I did not like them”

 

“Ah, so that's how it was? Do you know it does takes resources to do a research like that, it might be minimal nowadays that we have the dammed software, but they keep investing in research to improve it. Sociologist, psychologist, medical doctors, biologist, they keep trying to improve it. Still, you wasted resources for your own egotistical reasons”

 

“It is not like that” _He does not understand_ “I want.... I just wish... I want it to mean something”

 

“So you want a meaningful first fuck?”

 

“Not just that” she was probably very red by now.

 

“A meaningful relationship then? You were born in the wrong time then. Or maybe you would have had that problem at any time. You know what my brother said to me once? He said _people look at history and laugh at what restrained people in the past but who says we are more free now?_ And he was right people say it was stupid to forbid homosexuality, to restrain female expression, to think one was better than the other, but it is all rubbish. Now we are as full of stupid laws and rules than before. Now it is all about genetic advantage and the pressure to have kids is very high but you cannot have kids with anyone, you should control if your match is going to result in _the type of human that we need_. It's all about _the last research indicated that_ and the following will indicate the opposite, then in 10 years they will finish the metadata research of 30 years of investigations and find something else entirely. And we just follow them blindly! Now people are placed together as pieces of puzzle that need to fit and if there is no love? No problem! That is why we have the prostitutes database and the swingers clubs for! Why can't we just stay with that person we want to begin with? When is humanity going to allow itself some real freedom?”

 

“I... you have some valid points... but we cannot follow all our impulses, because some affect others, we cannot live only for ourselves... we have to compromise because there are other people living in this world with us. Our actions, decisions affect others and science indicates changes and adaptation paths according to our needs. We need some rules” she insisted.

 

“Yes but they should serve us, not the other way around! And we should question them when they become obsolete! In the past we let religious reasons rule who should we be with, now we let science dictate that. Is not science supposed to work for us? Why do we let ourself be ruled by it?” and he tried to rise, annoyed he hit his stump against the stone and she saw how color left his face and how he started to faint. Luckily she was fast enough to grab him and place him against the floor.

 

After checking his pulse and eyes she called for help. The same doctor she saw earlier checked him and gave him some medicines. Then she was left to take care of him, he needed a good shave after all. She cleaned and dressed him almost automatically, unable to forget all that she had heard just some minutes before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I believe in science and I believe in moral reasons to decide one thing of the other. However I also believe in critical thinking.


	6. Jaime

He must have been very tired. Otherwise he could not explain himself his own behavior. Not only the hard-on it gave him to watch her naked but all the confessions and then the questions about herself. What did he care about the romantic ideas this big woman had about sex? And why did he kept on thinking about how gentle she had been with him _even gentler than her..._ Why was he comparing them? They had nothing in common.

 

That night they dined with Lord Bolton. He explained to them that if Jaime would be so nice as to blame the Mummers and their Captain, Vargo Hoat, for losing his hand so that he would be free of charge, then he would let him go. He explained the complex politics behind his lost hand, one of the lords of a bio-gas company was offering a very valuable daughter, an heir, if they would capture Jaime. She was apparently ok with that, so it broke no rule of parentage abuse. It was rather unconventional but allowed to accept matches made that way – a person could complete in a database his/ hers genetic background history and send his/her requirements for a match without the intervention of the softwares normally used to find such match. Results varied but some still said it gave them more freedom. 

 

Misunderstandings between the wolfs and the lord of a powerful hydroelectric dam were complicating the war. Lord Bolton and his float were leaving to meet with the wolfs at some ceremony, leaving the mummers in charge of Harrenhall. Jaime honestly did not care anymore about intrigues, treason or whatever, he just wanted to leave and go home. Back to his Lioness. 

 

The wench however was to be returned to the mummers, her father had offered a ransom but they had not accepted it, still believing in that Sapphire story. How dense could people be? He tried to avoid thinking of her hurt look when he left the table and they took her. 

 

They left in a big ship, him, the doctor and a group of soldiers. Jaime was an important prize and he needed to be taken good care of. He went to his chamber, a nice and real one, a wooden bed. Weirdwood, that would have been called a sacrilege by the wolfs, luckily he wasn't one. He wanted to dream of Cersei, he prayed for a nice dream with her but was given something else entirely.

 

What was given to him was darkness and fear. Not a normal darkness, looking at it made him believe that there was no light in the world, that it had been his imaginations or that he had become blind... Invisible men pushed him further into a cave. The only noise was that of water dripping in the shallow stream he was standing on. Drop after drop. 

 

What he was given was rejection. A promise came and went. The one he wanted abandoned him, Cersei left him in that deep cavern to rot, taking the only light, the only hope he thought he had. His father and Joffrey, his own son, abandoned him as well. His father only left him a gun and a single source of light. And when he thought he was going to be left there alone, naked and scared, left to rot, another light appeared, a blue light. 

 

Brienne. But Brienne was as naked as he was and in chains, he needed to free her. As soon as he did a gun for her appeared out of thin air. Her light was brighter than his, she was strangely warm, and looked as brave as ever, probably even fiercer and definitely more appealing. _She could even be beautiful_. Before he could think about cover the reaction from this thoughts other sounds approached and soon they were surrounded by a dozen or more ghosts. The undead? No, they spoke and they seemed too real. The prince and his guard, the ones he had once know. His complains did not helped him, they did not care about explanations or Brienne's oath, Ser Arthur Dayne only care about Jaime's treason, Rhaegar only cared about him not keeping the kids safe. It was his judgment day and resistance was futile. His light started to fade, only Brienne's stood bright, his only defense against these ghosts and he felt terribly cold.

 

 

Jaime woke up screaming. Touching himself and the bed, realizing it had all been a dream. Dr. Qyburn opened the door and checked him.

 

“It seems you are suffering from post-traumatic disorder, you should take these” he said giving him some sleeping pills.

 

“No, I am perfectly fine” and he went to the control room. “Captain, we need to go back”

 

Captain Steelshank looked puzzled. “But we are half way back to King's Landing”

 

“Let's make this easy, either we go back and take what I forgot, or when we arrive you will have to buy yourself a new head, as well as one for Lord Bolton, are we clear?”

 

Mumbling some curses he directed a change in the course. They were a bigger group than the mummers, it was not going to be hard rescuing her.

 

The man who opened the field for them seemed to be drunk. He hoped they were all that drunk. They descended and found no one at the receiving hall. They passed room after room and no one was to be found. Until he heard some noises, people screaming and laughing. Fear ran through him, what of her dream? Were they destroying it right now? He almost felt reluctant to approach the main hall.

 

He almost felt relieved when he saw that she was actually inside an arena, fighting some mutant animal. He could not tell if that was a boar, a bear or a wolf, maybe all. At least she had a gun. _Why is that stuff not dead yet?_ he wondered. He remember that she fought as she dived, with fluidity, fast and even graceful, it had been as trying to grab water in his hands. A good pilot, a great fighter and a better gunman. _It must be difficult to move inside that thing though_ she was still in the silly pink corset and sillier pink skirt she had when he last saw her, that was torn to pieces by now. 

 

She was escaping each attack and shooting but why did it cause no harm? He could tell that the beast was blind, blood flooded from its eyes so it must be recent. It could still smell her though. The thing seemed ferocious but still it seemed like a badly made chimera, it was too dumb. Then reality hit him in the face, it was an air gun. That was not going to kill that monster. He ran to face the mummer's boss. A bandage over his head, a lazy smile in his face and reeking of alcohol even when approached from far away. 

 

“Why did you give her an air gun?”

 

“Mmm, wat are you thoing heere” he said with some difficulty 

 

“You should have given her a real gun”

 

“Dat would not have been fun... and she thetherves it for biting me. She should hafth thanketh me, I was going to do her a favor”

 

“Let her go, I will pay for her as well”

 

“Take her from dere if you can”

 

So he jumped inside the arena and just then realized that he had no real weapon either. Taking off his shoe he threw it to the beast but missed miserably. The beast smelled him and threw itself towards him, but it was not fast enough and Jaime escaped it. 

 

“Jaime? What are you doing here?” said Brienne with very wide opened eyes.

 

“Being an idiot, quick, behind me”

 

“No, you are going to get yourself hurt, I have a gun, come behind me”

 

“That's a toy not a gun. Hey Captain, care to give me some help?” 

 

Steelshank threw him a gun but it felt very clumsy in his left hand, he was still not strong enough. He failed but accidentally hit a drunken soldier that fell to the arena. “Oh, well he was going to fall anytime soon anyway” but the beast attacked the man and a his shrieks could still be heard among the grunting and the skin being crush.

 

While the poor man was being teared into pieces by the beast the men were only laughing lauder. Brienne approached him. “We have to stop it!”

 

“It's too late”

 

“Give me the gun”

 

“No, I will shoot” For some reason he needed to be the one who shot. He started aiming at the beast but his hand was shaking very badly. Unexpectedly, Brienne went behind him and put her hand on top of his and stabilized him. She was as warm as in his dream and he shivered slightly. “Now” she ordered and this time he did not fail. It took several shoots to kill that monster. The Captain had shot as well. 

 

Though the men were angry, they were not enough compared to the Lannister men. “That was enough, we are taking this beast of a woman with us, Hoat” 

 

“Her name is Brienne and you” he said to Hoat this time “better had not put your disgusting penis inside her” looking at Brienne he asked “He didn't, did he?”

 

With a face as red as a tomato she replied “No”

 

“Great, I only save innocent maidens”.

 

The mummers looked very upset but they did not try to fight. They left and where already inside their ship when the Captain complained to Jaime, about how nuts he was, how he should ask Dr. Qyburn to lock him at a mental facility, etc. Then he left angry and cursing to the control room.

 

He was just showing Brienne to her room, it was next to his, when she finally spoke.

 

“I am a thankful, Jaime, very much so, but... why? You were probably nearing King's Landing, why did you return?”

 

He looked at her, the intensity of her beautiful eyes full of gratitude nagging him, almost forcing him to turn that into annoyance, he had a great reply ready but instead he just said “I dreamed of you” and left.


	7. Brienne

She thought this time there was no escape. When Vargo Hoat went to the room they had her locked in she thought he would bring his guards to hold her while he raped her. Instead he entered alone and already a bit drunk. For the first time in her life she felt glad that some men were still secretly – in this case openly – so chauvinistic that they believed any woman could be raped that easily. It was true that she was tied but she was still stronger than him so she used all her strenght, her head, her body and even her teeth to defend herself when he threw himself on top of her. 

 

As soon as she tore his ear out he left screaming. When the men finally came she thought it was retaliation time but instead they took her to the arena. They freed her and gave her a gun. So, they were going to make her fight, she could do that. However when the door at the other end of the arena opened what came out of it was nothing she had ever seen. It seemed to be a mixture of bear and wolf, maybe something else but looked like those rejected chimeras she had read about. _But those are supposed to be disposed off not kept, they serve no real purpose_. The creature was definitely strong and it hit her some times before she finally reached its eyes, from that moment on it started mostly throwing itself towards the wall of the arena, trying to crush her. 

 

To her surprise suddenly Jaime appeared, soon after they threw him a gun but he probably was not used to shoot with his left hand. He shot a guy instead of the beast and when it fell the beast started to eat him. It was gruesome and terrifying, it made her gag but still she approached Jaime, they needed to stop this, save that man. Jaime was being ridiculously stubborn, set on being the one who shot, so she grabbed his hand to help him aim and they finally stopped the beast. It was too late for the man though. It was surprising how Jaime's presence changed the power balance so quickly, the mummers were all drunk and Jaime had more men, so they let her go with him.

 

Again she was in his debt but when she asked he only said that he had dreamed of her. That confused her even more. Her stomach hurt her in strange ways and she did not remember feeling anything similar, except.. when Renly had visited their city. He had admired her father's work as well as hers. It was a business trip for him, a learning trip like those taken by heirs of important companies to get to know successful experiences of floating cities. He made comments on how clever she was and that had been when she had felt that for the first time. He had even danced with her at the party that night. Parties were not held but for especial occasions, however Renly enjoyed organizing parties. 

 

 _Why am I comparing them? This is stupid. They are too different._ Then another part of her dared to say _It's just because he's more dangerous._ Then she shut down all thought, or tried, and went to sleep. She needed to stop thinking about this.

 

At some point during the night she heard a noise in the room next to her. _It's where he is, are they attacking him?_ She opened the door that communicated both rooms and saw that he was twisting and turning in his bed, making strange noises. _A nightmare?_

 

“Jaime, Lord Jaime” she shook him and he woke up startled “Are you ok?”

 

He got himself free and crawled away from her, looking shocked, breathing very fast and then he blushed. _I must be seeing things, or he is upset that I woke him up?_

 

“I'm very sorry Jaime, you seemed upset” she tried to say in the nicest way possible.

 

“Who says I needed you?” he said in a very angry tone.

 

“I was just worried... I will let you, so that you can sleep in peace”

It was hard to sleep afterwards, _why was that so uncomfortable? And why is he such an idiot? I was just worried._ Then another voice commented _Stop thinking, just sleep._ But part of her could not help picturing his desperation and the strong need she had to protect him. And the same part insisted it has nothing to do with the promise to Lady Catelyn.

 

Curiously enough the following morning they received news from the Starks. A commotion at the wedding that smelled of treason. They were all dead, the Boltons were now the leaders of the Northern Lands, or so they claimed... Rumors claimed as well that Rickon and Bran had escaped via the tunnels with a few other people.

 

Brienne could not believe the news, it was a disaster, she had failed Lady Catelyn and she also felt she had failed her people. If what Lady Catelyn had said was true this was terrible not only because she was dead but because without them how where the smaller cities going to survive the coming winter? The were dependent of the new technologies to prevent enemies and animals as well as to keep warm. Many of these were on beta stage, controls and adjustments were probably going to be needed. Many structures would fail and people were going to die. Stupid jealousy and intrigues had doomed part of the Northern population. She prayed that the kids were alive somewhere, they were the only hope left for these smaller cities.

 

Someone entered her room and she saw it was Jaime. _Just breath and swallow those tears, do not cry in front of him._

 

“I am very sorry, Brienne” he had brought a bowl of soup with him. “I figured you rather take lunch alone here”

 

She almost felt like crying all over again. “Thank you, Jaime” she managed to say to her own hands on her lap.

 

“Well, now you could go back home, I'm sure your father needs you” he said some minutes later 

 

“I... don't think that is an option...”

 

“Why not? he surely misses you”

 

“You don't even know him” she looked at him briefly, he seemed genuinely worried.

 

“Well, it's true, but a father that allows you to reject potential matches, he cannot be that bad”

 

She could not help but smile a little but she still felt terrible. _I failed everyone..._

 

“Or you could try a new life at King's Landing, good pilots are always needed at the White Army”

 

“I do not want to be a part of _them_ , they are all traitors there” it was the moment she said it that she realized that sounded wrong. Jaime did belong to that army after all. 

 

“Still judgmental? Why do people like you cannot help but open their mouths about things they do not understand?”

 

“I did not mean-”

 

“I know what you meant, and you are wrong. Many at the White Army start as hopeful an innocent as you, full of ideas of glory and loyalty, only to find out that when you belong to an army you might be asked to do terrible things. You know what? If what I heard is true you did exactly as I did, you are as much a traitor as I am so you should really join us now”

 

“It is not true! There is evidence, it has been placed in the police database, it is everywhere, I did not kill Renly”

 

“It is not what the Tyrell army says”

 

The Tyrells owed the biotechnology corporation _Roses_. They were the major food producers in the land but their army was also a strong one. It was rumored they controlled the production of bio-weapons as well, but those still had not been tried. It was written somewhere that _he who controls the food can control the world_ and the Tyrells were very ambitious. Loras Tyrell did have a strong relationship with Renly. _Maybe Jaime is right, maybe they did marry..._

 

“You mean to say it is not what Loras Tyrell says. Even Margaery accepted that I'm innocent” she answered.

 

He remained silent for some time, looking at her and his expression changed from annoyance to pity. “It is the same, look Brienne, they are at King's Landing now, it might be wiser to take a good ship and leave for Tarth... the Tyrells saved King's Landing at the last battle according to the reports we received. A match has been made between the Tyrell's daughter and Joffrey. They have a strong position he could ask for you to be kept prisoner”

 

“Let him do that”

 

“You don't understand, it will be dangerous! You have to escape”

 

“But I am innocent!”

 

“You are but they don't care. You need to escape” he seamed very eager to convince her.

 

“I won't, I'll face him and explain him”

 

“You are impossible! It is to no avail, they have already judged you they are already sure you are guilty” he sounded desperate now.

 

He placed a hand in her shoulder. “Just leave, forget about all this, there is no way you can follow your promise now”

 

But she did not wanted to hear that. _There must be a way._ And then an idea came to her.

 

“I said I will take you safely to King's Landing and I will stay true to that. About the rest, I will find a way later”

 

“Do as you want, then, wench” he said in an angry voice and left.


	8. Jaime

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> caution, you are entering shippy territory! And also completely deviating from canon, just because it's fun. This does not mean it will become easier...

Gasps and moans, a long scream and then he knew she reached her plateau, touching her breasts and kissing her passionately he heard her orgasm in his mouth. It was dark, they were both sweaty, breathing fast and he could not take it anymore. He wanted to look at her, he did at the same time he reached his peak. What he saw startled him.

 

It took some minutes to realize he had been dreaming because when he opened his eyes the same ones he had just seen were looking at him now. Both her hands were on his shoulders and it felt like they were burning him. Scared by her proximity and how he was reacting to it he recoiled. He dismissed her as quickly as he could. It was not easy to sleep after that _Why did I allow her to be in the room next to mine?_

 

She took the news of the tragic wedding – now called the Red Wedding – quite badly and though he tried to comfort her and to arrange a way to escape the Tyrells she stubbornly denied him the opportunity to help her. He was so upset. Upset with Brienne for being so damn loyal and true, upset with Loras Tyrell for his insistence in accusing her, upset because they were judging her without considering all the evidence. _Just like it happened to me._

 

They were an hour away when a transmission informed them that during his wedding Joffrey had died. After the results came from the lab it was concluded that he had been poisoned. Tyrion was accused of murder and his wife had fled without a trace. Jaime was sure his brother was innocent. From the people who attended the wedding the poison masters were the Martells, any sane person would accuse them. _Has Cersei lost it?_

 

He can tell that Brienne is watching him with worried eyes but now he rather stay clear of them. He leaves for his room and locks himself inside it, ignoring her pleas to let her in. When he is finally left alone he start thinking about the events and reaches a sad conclusion. He felt nothing. His son was dead and he felt nothing. More than anything he feared what would Brienne say if he realized it. _And why should I care what she thinks of me?_ But he did.

 

When they finally reach King's Landing some things went according to what he thought while others were shockingly different. Brienne had to be taken prisoner to calm Loras but he arranged that she was going to be well kept. He also convinced Loras to hear and see the evidence with more detail. He just wanted to punch that little guy.

 

Both the meeting with Cersei and his father had been a disaster. First, when he saw Cersei, all went as he wanted and he took her right at the crypt where their son was being kept. Despite that it had somehow become the turning point of their relationship, she became disgusted by his lack of hand and annoyed that he rejected her offer to become her Chancellor. It was obvious that either their father or uncle would do that job better.

 

The meeting with their father had been equally terrible, he treated him as if he had seen him the previous day. He even completely ignored that he had lost a hand and that a new robot hand required at least weeks of training and gave him a new ship and a gun with a story.

 

Only one positive thing did Jaime take from the meeting with his father, and that was the news about the Bloody Mummers. They were attacked by beasts and venomous plant alike because they were stupid enough to leave the field open after Jaime arrived. _And stupid enough not to install and automatic gadget for that purpose_. Pieces of what once were humans were scattered all over the place, it seemed some had escaped in one of the ships but the mummers were as good as dead now. After sampling and testing it was confirmed that the Hoat was among the deceased, torn into pieces by some gigantic boar. Reconstructing of the area was going to take some effort, but the population was growing and they needed to establish them somewhere. Apart from that, Lord Tywin was totally deaf about Jaime not wanting to retire from the White Army yet and even dismissed him saying that he had no son.

 

Days passed and his relationship with Cersei only worsened over the days. He felt as if someone had punched him in the face. The woman he had loved was very different from this one. She kept on calling him names due to his absent hand and the new hand did not improve that. She did not even want to hear him when he wanted to give counsel. _Had she always been like this?_

 

Cersei was convinced that Tyrion had poisoned her kid. The poison was on the cup he had held just minutes before Joffrey had taken it from him by force. He almost laughed, would that the brat had heard his uncle and payed some attention. Joffrey was a monster, he had always been a horrible person and would make a terrible Commander when the time came. He was weak and a coward who used power to mistreat innocent girls. It was obvious no one would miss him.

 

Still he did not believe his brother was guilty. One day he went to the chamber of the Master of Spiders – he was called like that because his spying devices looked terrifyingly similar to spiders, or so they said – Varys, and asked politely that he turn off all hearing devices. After a heated discussion he finally convinced Varys that he liked to be alive more than he cared about the repercussions of future actions. They deactivated all the spying devices and freed Tyrion, gave him a ship and a couple of soldiers to take him south.

 

That meeting also went very differently from what he expected. First he was thankful and happy to see him. But Jaime decided to be honest with Tyrion, so he told him that the woman he had once loved enough to marry was not a prostitute. That his father was set in avoiding him staying married to this girl, she had not gone through the database, she was probably too poor for that. The look on Tyrion's face indicated Jaime that he was not going to forgive him. Then it all became worse when he decided to ask him if he had really killed Joffrey. Tyrion had become very upset and just spat a list of crimes committed by Cersei, listed all the men she had slept with, and then pronounced himself to be the monster they all claimed him to be. Jaime could not take it anymore so he left him and Varys.

 

It had been a mistake, Varys and Tyrion where not there the following morning. And her father was dead. The cameras at his chamber showed that Tyrion got there from some hidden door, killed his father's whore and then him. Strange as it may have seemed, his father did hire whores from time to time, despite Cersei's confusion.

 

even with all the surveillance cameras they could not be found. _They must be using the tunnels, that wench was smart after all._ Cersei kept making confusing decisions, now even worse that their father was not around to counsel them. She started to find enemies everywhere, thinking that everyone was trying to get her. Whenever he tried to reach her she would just shut him up. The day that Jaime came to a conclusion was the day she burned the Towel of the Chancellor, only to order a new one. A ridiculous waste of resources, the behavior of a madman...

 

Cersei had decided he needed to go away, to solve some political disturbances of the aftermath of the war. That day he called Loras. He finally came with Brienne and explained that after analyzing the video in detail and speaking with Brienne he was finally convinced of her innocence. When Loras left, Brienne just stood there looking at the floor like a little girl who had done something wrong.

 

“Just close the door and come. I'm not going to eat you” and then he shut down surveillance in his room.

 

Tentatively she approached after closing the door, still looking at her hands.

 

“Mine is more interesting, look” he was still getting used to it and a bit clumsy when moving it. It was a design of Tyrion, a golden hand.

 

“It looks well”

 

“You look well, blue actually suits you” _The same color of those gorgeous eyes._

 

A little blush appeared on her cheeks “Thanks, the tailor said you sent her” she touched her clothes “I thought I would forever hate corsets...”

 

He suddenly wanted to hit himself “Heavens, Brienne, I am very sorry, that was so-”

 

“No, it's fine, this one is comfortable...Ah... The....The army garments suit you as well” for a fleeting moment she looked at him and then her eyes darted somewhere else. Stepping closer she asked him “Do you honestly believe me innocent? Do you think that I have honor?”

 

“Why would you care, I'm a bloody traitor, you said it yourself”

 

“It would matter” she said almost whispering at her own feet.

 

He needed to change the subject, immediately. “I guess that you still have not decided to leave for Tarth”

 

“No, why would I?”

 

“In that case I have a proposition for you” he went to the panel at his desk and commanded to shut down the hearing devices. Giving the gun to Brienne he said to her “My father gave this to me, but it makes no sense, I already own many others and this one is just too heavy for me now, it will take some time getting used to it, you will handle it better”

 

“But... your father died, it is a gift from him”

 

“Oh, he did that and then declared he had no son, great father he was” she looked appalled at that disclosure of information and just stood with her mouth open.

 

“In any case, I thought it may suit you better, it was a Stark model, designed for Sansa's father before he died. It is more resistant than the common guns and also more potent. There was no one here to use it after he died so it came to my father's possession and then mine, now it is yours”

 

She took it and stared at it as if he had given her a gorgeous jewelry or a beautiful gown.

 

“Figured you would want to defend Lady Sansa with her father's weapon”

 

“I don't understand” and this time she did look at him for a period longer than 2 seconds.

 

“I have been assigned to solve some issues at Riverrun and other cities, you can come with me, and from there we can start looking for her”

 

“We? I am not going to give her to the Lannisters” she almost gave him the weapon back but he stopped her.

 

“Listen before opening that stupid stubborn mouth of yours. I have no such plans. I don't believe Sansa to be guilty of poisoning Joffrey, she was probably just kidnapped by some wolf sympathizers, there are many of those still around.”

 

“I don't understand...”

 

“This might be my last chance of honor, and there is no other way for you to leave without calling people's attention if you leave on your own. My father also gave me a ship, one that can travel through the tunnels, like yours could, but I am still almost useless as a pilot, you can help me in that department. We should call that ship _Oathkeeper_ , after all that is what is going to be used for. I have got a decree by our _future commander_ to avoid being annoyed in our way. And we also have this” he gave her a spider.

 

“Is this?... They look so real indeed”

 

“This contains a video of a ship being boarded by Sansa and other men, it has not been seen by anyone else.” a good-bye present of Varys, Jaime preferred to ignore thinking why that man had given that to him “If you can use it to decipher the route we may stand a chance to track the ship and find where they went. They could, of course, have changed ships but it is a start”

 

She was speechless.

 

“We need to leave tomorrow afternoon, so get yourself ready, and don't let that spider escape you”

 

 

 

 


	9. Brienne

Brienne could not believe all that she had heard. He was going to help her fulfill her oath. It was like he had read her mind, she did meant to look for Sansa and her brothers as well. Still there was a minor detail and she felt ashamed of pushing her luck.

 

“Jaime, I... this,.... thank you and sorry for misinterpreting . But.. could I ask for another... well, clothes”

 

“Oh, yes, that looks terribly uncomfortable, truly, I'll send someone with new clothes. Just go and get ready.” 

 

Somehow she was terribly excited, the idea of having Jaime with her looking for Sansa felt like justice, like honor, like a song. It is true, he could not drive or use weapons as before, but with practice he was going to be as good as before. She hided gun and spider, and then decided to take a tour around the castle, she needed to examine all possible escape areas. All the places from where Sansa could have escaped. 

 

Afterwards, she went to her room again, and started remembering her last weeks. The moment they arrived at King's Landing Loras Tyrell had tried to hit her, but Jaime had placed himself in front of her. Even then he said to Loras to avoid fighting with her or it would be him going to the hospital. Loras was part of the White Army now, so he had to follow Jaime's command. Jaime had said that Brienne was loyal, that she had honor but he still made her a prisoner. She felt terribly betrayed, then confused by how nicely she was treated. It took many conversations and hours of examining the video to convince Loras. She even felt that he got to understand that she had loved Renly. It made her a bit uncomfortable but at least he believed her. And now she was going to travel with Jaime. She wouldn't admit it, but Jaime talking about how strong and loyal she was flattered her.

 

Someone knocked at her door. A young lad brought her a change of clothes but did not left afterwards.

 

Instead he looked at her backpack and asked “Are you traveling my lady? 

 

 _Jaime had been given orders, so people must know, it will look suspicious if I lie._ “Yes, in the morning”.

 

“Are you going with the new ship, they say is magnificent”

 

“I have not heard that, do you like ships?”

 

“Yes, my lady, I always wanted to be inside one”

 

“Maybe one day you will”

 

“Have you seen it my lady?”

 

“Not yet, I will tomorrow”

 

Then he was quiet for some time.

“My Lady, the dinner is being served now, would you like me to bring it o you here”

 

“That would be very nice, yes, I would like that”

 

And he left. She continued sorting her stuff, there was not much, some of the stupid corsets managed to come with her. She felt guilty every time she looked at them but for that same reason she could not throw them away. _They were the last thing she gave to me._ Instead, she just left them on the bed, she could decide tomorrow.

 

She was checking tracking softwares when the boy came back, he left the food and went without much noise. 

 

That morning she decided to take them, just to remember her but she would have sworn they were 3 not 2, but paid not much attention to that. That day she interviewed all ladies that had known Sansa and registered the data to transfer it to the computer afterwards. They finished packing soon enough and Jaime gave her a smile that made her stomach jump. She realized she was smiling to him longer than necessary and almost wanted to slap herself for it. 

 

They boarded and left early. The ship was indeed very beautiful, a good design that was not only pretty but quite aerodynamic. Among the many gadgets this ship contained the warm detector she had heard about. There was so much she wanted to try.

 

She loved piloting, if she could do that all her life she wouldn't be unhappy. When she proved her skills to others they sometimes said they admired her, but she could see the disapproval on their faces. Even now, people did not forgive an ugly woman. However good or smart she was no one would stop pushing her to try learning how to groom herself better. Jaime had been the first person that had actually decided to trust her with the command of his own ship, the first to trust her with a mission of their own.

 

The Spider was more useful than expected, not only due to its contents but because she could decipher a code to access the content of a network of Spiders thanks to that. Unfortunately for some reason that only worked for a couple of hours. Apparently the Spiders were programmed to install a new code every two days. It still gave her a lot to work with. 

 

“Have you heard that?” Jaime asked at some point.

 

“No, what?”

 

“I should check” 

 

“I'll check the internal surveillance” but there was nothing there, then she checked surveillance for the previous hours and she saw something disturbing. She communicated that to Jaime.

 

Jaime arrived pushing the _disturbance_ some minutes later. “Seems like we did not check well enough before departing”

 

It was that young lad. “What are you doing here, how did you get in?”

 

“I told the guards you had forgot your clothes” the boy replied.

 

“When we go back, I'll fire them” said Jaime.

 

“Who are you and what are you doing here?” asked Brienne. She did not thought this was a bad boy, he seemed shy even, staring at his own feet.

 

“I'm Podrick Payne, they call me Pod, I was Lord Tyrion's assistant. I heard you discussing yesterday”

 

“So, a little spy, do you work for Varys now?” Jaime asked.

 

“No, Ser, I just wanted to help, to find Lord Tyrion, if you are looking for her, you may find him”

 

“Oh” said Jaime, and he seemed to be thinking about something.

 

“We cannot tell you if that will be the case, but who do you work for now and how did you evade detection?” Brienne somehow pitied him. 

 

“My lady, I worked for the man who build this ship before becoming Lord Tyrion's assistant... I knew the surveillance did not catch some specific spots”

 

“Good to know, you should help us arrange that now” said Brienne

 

Jaime raised an eyebrow “We're not babysitters” 

 

“I'm not a baby Ser, I can assist you, I can help... I can clean, cook, anything”

 

“He did help with the manufacture” she said.

 

And so Pod stayed with them. After they fixed the cameras to cover the spots Brienne questioned Pod about details of the construction of the ship. She got some ideas to re-programme the ship as well. This was a very nice, educated boy. Not once did he look at her with annoyance or disrespect. Maybe working for Tyrion Lannister made him more respectful to _unusual_ people. 

 

They arrived at Duskendale city, the spider network had spotted a ship similar to that where Sansa had escaped directing to that port. But they only found unhappy people there. Unrest could be felt at the city. At some point they were in a tavern, Jaime went to the toilet and she could hear how uncomfortable people were at his presence. Some newcomers started complaining the minute they came in that the pest had arrived in town. Many were singing Starks songs, and some where even celebrating the death of Joffrey. When Jaime arrived they left the tavern.

 

After some time they found the ship, it was in sale. It took some time and money to convince the owner to tell them who he had bought it from, he said it was a man in a mask and that he had bought one of his ship. They got the description and after buying more provisions, just in case now that they were 3, they left the city. 

 

They went to Maidenpool, Jaime needed to solve some political issues for the Lannisters, some issue relate to the Mountain. In the meantime Brienne tried to de-codify the Spiders again but for now used the footage to find this other ship. It might have gone faster if she would have gone alone, but this way was fine as well. 

 

While he goes on his way to solve his issues Brienne decides that it could be better to explore on her own, Pod insists in joining but he tells him to check they don't need provisions instead. 

 

The people in town seem to be more eager to collaborate now that Jaime was not standing next to her. They complained as much as the people in the other city though. Some say they do not care who rules as long as the energy supply is not cut, others complain about the Lannisters, many hate the Freys, others say the Starks would have been equally bad and they preferred the Targaryens anyway. Nobody has seen Sansa or the ship. One person indicates that they heard about someone speaking about a fool he fooled that worked for an important house. It was rumored that a fool helped Sansa escape. _Maybe it's the same fool?_ The cameras did capture a similar looking ship going this way. 

 

The man who mentioned this fool is someone named Crabb. After some cups and gold he says he will take her to where he saw this fool hiding, some ruined buildings. They go there but there is no one. Brienne starts thinking that this man had other things in mind when he hears him scream and she hides behind some rocks. Someone is shooting at her. Then she hears their laughs and they made her shiver. She can never forget those voices, those disgusting voices.

 

“We are lucky today, we have our chance to hear this one cry today” and fake-nose laughs

“Sure her screams will be more exciting than her face” the fat one says.

 

Overconfident idiots, it is good that these 3 are like that, they are out there, unafraid, such an easy target. A strange idea crosses her mind and she shoots, not at any vital point, only at their hands. One by one they drop their guns and scream, then run to hide, not fast enough. She kills one of them. 

 

“Fucking bitch, I will fuck you with these guns once I got my hands on you, you hear me?!” but neither fake-nose not the fat one have a good aim now that their right hands are hurt. Swiftly she rolls and runs from one rock to the other, getting closer and they miss her every time. 

 

When she kills fake-nose the fat says he surrenders. As she approaches he is on his knees, hands up and his gun some meters away from him. But there is something about how his eyes twitch and how he seems to be trying to hold a smile, a strange movement of hand and then she knows. She shoots him. He had a knife hidden in his sleeve. He probably wanted to throw it at her. 

 

She looks around and falls to her knees. She has never killed like this before. Yes, they were terrible men but still... but then she hears someone clearing his voice.

 

“I'm afraid my lady that I have to arrest you” says Lord Tarly, but his face indicates that he feels anything but sorry.

 


	10. Jaime

Jaime expends the morning discussing with Ser Hasty about his new duties at Harrenhall, once the place is rebuilt. Lord Connington is there as well. It all goes relatively well except when they start asking Jaime about his lost hand. When he talks about Brienne Lord Connington starts laughing.

 

“That chimera was probably scared of her, to think they wanted to make a match of her with me, I tossed a rose to her when we met and told her that was the only thing she'll get from me, that woman she's hairier and uglier than any defective chimera can ever be-”

 

A hook with his fake golden hand shuts that idiot's mouth.

 

“She's braver than any of you, probably smarter and a Lady, so you speak of her with respect, understood?” he almost screamed at him.

 

“Yes, my lord, excuse me” says Lord Connington, blood falling from his mouth. Both he and Hasty seemed surprised but ask no more questions afterwards.

 

Women of the city were complaining about the Mountain men causing problems and there was this business with Wylis Manderley, a prisoner that was supposed to be set free days ago. There were many prisoners that were supposed to be free by now so he freed them despite the complains he heard. He ordered Lord Connington and those men to escort Wylis Manderley to his city and he almost wished Lord Manderley would kill them all once they got there.

 

Afterwards he went to their ship, hoping that their business was done there. Brienne was not there, Pod did not know about her whereabouts so he decided to wait. She did not come that day.

 _I wish she communicated, I wish she replied to my messages, where are you Brienne? Please be safe_. He should not have left her go on her own, he should have gone with her.

 

Jaime went to look for her but people did not seem to want to discuss matters with him. Late at night he went to Lord Hasty and he indicated that he could possibly ask Lord Tarly about her, he was in charge of this city's order. When he reached the military building Lord Tarly was about to leave for his chamber. The men was nothing but unpleasant but at least he was direct. He had arrested Brienne because she was suspected of killing 4 innocent men. After observing surveillance cameras he could tell that one of them was killed by the other 3 while Brienne killed the rest. It seem it had been in self defense.

 

“Then why is she still in jail?” Jaime said impatiently.

 

“She said she had permission to enter the city since she is in some quest, we saw no papers about that so I keep her here until she can prove it's true”

 

“That is absurd, here, these are the papers, she is with me” and he gave him the papers.

 

After checking them Lord Tarly had to agree to let her go. He was not amused. Jaime could not care less.

 

Two men were guarding the cells. He heard them argue.

 

“Oh, look, it's that big woman, remember her?” one of the soldiers said.

 

“Ah, the one of the bet” said the other dismissively

 

“I could still win”

 

“We are not playing that anymore” and he placed a hand on the other's shoulders as if to stop him for trying to open the door “plus Lord Tarly would not allow you to do so”

 

“Bah, he will never know, what, let me go, I do as it pleases me” but the other one did not let him go.

 

“Yes I will, and next time I will place more suitable guards for this type of prisoner” Lord Tarly says. He opens the cell looking very annoyed “I have checked, yes it is true so I am afraid you are free to go” looking up and down at her he continued “You should go back, accept your next match, fulfill your duty, work on your Island”.

 

“Eventually, I will, my father is in good health, he said it himself to me last time we spoke in the meantime I had other business to attend to” her dismissive tone made him laugh.

 

“Exactly and besides that is not any of your business and do keep your word about these two, let's go Brienne” he could shoot at these men right now but did not have time for that.

 

Brienne looks surprised but relieved to see him there. Once outside she asks “Did you went looking for me?”

 

“What do you think? Why did you went alone?”

 

“It would have been worse if Pod came with me, they killed Mr. Crabb for no reason. I was following a lead with him and they just killed him. He never did anything to them.”

 

“Neither did you, those were scum Brienne”

 

“I know but still” she looked at her hands.

 

“Never killed a man that closely before? It will pass, if you had not done it they would have killed you” his hand goes to her shoulder and he squeezes her a bit. She looks at him and nods slightly. For some seconds they just stay like this, staring at each other. His hands stars caressing her shoulder and Brienne lowers her gaze, flustered.

 

“We should probably... leave, it's late”

 

“Yes it is, we have to go to Riverrun, then we should go back to you original idea”

 

“What?”

 

“Try the Vale, her aunt is the only family she has left”

 

 


	11. Brienne

She was arrested for a night only. It might have taken less but she is sure Lord Tarly would not let an opportunity like this escape her. He always detested her. Although he had told her about the bet she blamed her. Brienne had read enough about victim-shaming and knew she had all the right to complain and that this could cost him his job. Still she did not do it, she wanted to slap herself now for having avoided that. 

She had failed Jaime. He probably needed to leave for Riverrun and might even has left already.

 

Then she heard the guards speak. “Oh, look, it's that big woman, remember her?” one of the soldiers said. _That voice._ She recognized him, both actually, and it made her want to gag to hear them. Hyle Hunt and Owen Inchfield.

 

“Ah, the one of the bet” said Hyle Hunt. _That is how I am remembered? As the joke, as the bet?_ She was so angry now.

 

“I could still win” insisted Inchfield _Oh, just come here and try_. They had not even chained her.

 

“We are not playing that anymore, plus Lord Tarly would not allow you to do so”. She was suddenly surprised that Hunt was being that nice.

 

“Bah, he will never know, what?, let me go, I do as it pleases me” and then she heard Lord Tarly speak. He opened the door, was as awful as ever and Brienne concentrated to pay only attention to the fact that she was free now. She replied to this impossibly judgmental man and then heard someone laugh. _Jaime?_ He had come for her.

 

Lord Tarly emanated disapproval but neither Jaime nor Brienne were paying any attention then. He returned her guns and communication device then they left. They spoke briefly about the event, Brienne was still a little shocked at killing those men and Jaime was being very supportive. But then he kept his hand on her shoulder for longer than necessary. His stare was too intense and then he started moving his hand on her shoulder causing all sort of strange feelings inside her. She could not keep looking at him anymore. Luckily he stopped and they just went back to the ship. It was hard to sleep that night but when she did she was again at the day she became part of the Rainbow Guard, except Jaime was the one giving that honor to her...

 

They received information about disturbances at the Trident city. Something about defective fields, the Hound and illegal people infiltrating the city. Jaime said they needed to check that before going to Riverrun. It took them a day to get there.

 

This time he placed a GPS at her ear, it almost looked like an earing. It did not took long but still Brienne had a hard time looking at him while he did that. His hand almost caressing her hair, his breath warm on her neck... She could have done it herself but he had insisted...

 

“And you will call me if you get in any problem, Pod you call me if she doesn't, do you understand?” he also insisted that Pod should go with her.

 

“Yes ser, I'll call you immediately if there is any problem.”

 

“Or any suspicion as well, just call” and they went.

 

The first place they entered was an old monastery. Some people were still religious, even nowadays. The monks were nice but only had stories about sackings, abuse of power of the major houses and more, nothing about a little lady. Except for one monk. He told her under a tree about Arya Stark. She had somehow managed to survive, the Hound had found her but then she escaped and the hound was dead now. He told her about how he had buried that man and left his terrifying helmet on top, someone had probably stolen it by now, that's were the rumors of the Hound came from. He also told her about another strange rumor. It was believed that the Stark kids were rebuilding Winterfell, some northern houses were helping them in secret. No reconstructing team had ever went from King's Landing after the war, so it was not official. He said to her that if she tuned in an specific radio channel she could hear the news of the north. She wrote it down, the idea that she could find all the kids fascinated her.

 

Brienne sent a message to Jaime so that he could use the information about the Hound. Then continued asking around. Not much happened until she saw a ghost.

 

“Renly?” the guy looked at her, he was too serious and annoyed to be Renly

 

“I do not know that person” and he continued walking towards a dark alley.

 

For some reason she followed him, he looked so much like Renly, it was impossible.

 

“Excuse me, I would like to talk to you”

 

“And I do not want to talk with you” he blurted. He went inside some abandoned building. A little girl was looking from a window and then she closed it very fast. She entered the building, only kids where there. At the beginning they were reluctant to talk to her but then opened up a little. Still they had no information about Lady Sansa. She felt sorry for all these orphans and was about to discuss with Jaime about this when she heard shootings outside. The war might have ended for the big houses, but it seemed never-ending in each city.

 

“Stay inside, Pod” and she went to check.

 

A group of five men had grabbed a little girl, one of them had the Hound's helmet. They were tearing the girl's clothes, Brienne needed to be fast. She hit him in his crotch. The man yelled and fell to the floor, the others forgot about the girl and went to seek for hiding places. She hit other two before they could find it. Running as fast as she could, she went out and grabbing the girl's hand shoved her behind another building before shooting again. After some moments they stopped shooting. Then they screamed in desperation. A fog did not allow her to see better what was happening. When it dissipated a strange group of men and a lady with her face covered by a long cape stood there. The mutilated corpses of the attackers laid on the floor. Brienne stood hiding behind the building with the little girl.

 

She checked the girl, she was weeping but unhurt. She could not know if these people were going to hurt her or not, but they had such an eerie aura around them she believed nothing good could come from them.

 

“Brienne” a strange voice came from that woman, it sounded metallic and not quite human “We know it's you, we've been observing, you betrayed me, just like all of them”

 

“Who are you?”

 

The Lady uncovered her face. She should not have. Underneath that a mixture of what once had been a human with metal parts poorly assembled was all she had for a face. But when she looked longer she could see... it could no be... but was that Lady Catelyn?

 

Some commotion ensued and then she saw to her horror how they were dragging Pod to That creature.

 

“No!” she screamed and confronted them. Her gun still in her hand. “He's innocent, let him go”

 

“My kids were innocent! You failed them”

 

“I'm looking for Sansa”

 

“To give her to that traitor, to give her to the Lions”

 

“No, it's not true”

 

“We saw her with him, they arrived together” a man said.

 

“Yes, but he's not the man he used to be, he saved me from rape more than once, he is a good man”

 

“He is a Lannister” that strange woman said.

 

“Yes, but you are wrong about him”

 

“We will kill this boy unless you bring that scum to us” one of the men said, pointing his gun to Pod.

 

“Please no!” she dropped her gun and put her hands up “Let him, you can kill me, but let him go”

 

“No, you will bring me Jaime Lannister's corpse or both of you will die” Brienne wanted to scream to her, this was really it. She was going to die but should an innocent die as well with her?

 

“Just kill me, please”

 

“Bring Jaime to us!” that thing commanded.

 

 _If I run to her, maybe they'll kill me and let Pod go, I will never be able to kill Jaime, this might be my only chance._ She was about to do that when several small ships appeared and started shooting at the band of men. This minute of distraction was all she needed. Rolling she took the gun she had let fall and shoot at the man that was holding Pod, she run to Pod and he run to her, they threw themselves behind another ruined building but Pod was not fast enough and she needed to push him. Her shoulder and left cheek were burning and then all went black.


	12. Brienne

It took some minutes to realize that what she was looking at were merely lights, she must be at some hospital. 

 

“Finally you woke up” Jaime sounded so worried

 

“Jaime?”

 

“What did I tell you? I told you clearly enough that you should call if something happens, what do you do? You confront a band of dangerous outlaws on your own, you are going to get yourself good and killed stupid wench. Luckily Pod has more sense than you and he let us know” and now he sounded upset

 

“There were not many, just 5, they were going to rape that girl, then these ones appear” and she remembered “Jaime! She's alive” and she grabbed his arm.

 

“No, Brienne, that thing was not her...”

 

“But-”

 

“Some outlaws, the Brotherhood without Banners, manage to get hold of her, reconstruct her if you want, playing Dr. Frankenstein with her and that's what woke up. Some reports indicate about a strange band of men directed by an android lady. Many Freys seemed to have died by her hand. It's a pity we could not capture her this time”

 

“How did they escape?”

 

“I wish I knew, they just evaporated on that fog of them. I am sure many locals are helping her, they probably believe she represents justice”

 

Brienne could not help herself, she felt guilty. “We need to find her...”

 

“And we will, we will keep her safe” he placed a hand in her cheek. “How does it feel, you got hurt here. The doctors reconstructed as best as they could, in some months there should be only a scratch here”

 

“I do not feel pain now, must be the painkillers.” he was examining her and his gaze was burning her. _I hope I am not blushing now_ but she knew she was.

 

“Do not lie to me” he placed the other hand as well, and cupped her face “and next time let me know with more time, you could have died there, I forbid you to die before we find Sansa, promise me”

 

Her heart skipped a beat and she could not breath normally. “I am not lying, I'm fine and that is a difficult promise to make” she said with as firm a voice as she could get out of herself. 

 

“Excuse me, ser, my lady” Pod was almost as red as Brienne must have been.

 

Jaime let her go and Brienne sighed, hopefully not too loud. 

 

“You came to see your hero, she saved you there, you should thank her”

 

“Of course, I came to do that” said Pod very seriously.

 

“Good, doctors said we can leave tomorrow” he said to Brienne and then sat in a chair. She was happy to be alive, and that Pod was well. At the same time Brienne started fearing the strange feelings and situations revolving around Jaime. _You just are afraid because he's more dangerous_ that voice in her head said again. But it was wrong, Brienne was not afraid, she was terrified.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I believed it was better to split this in two Brienne's POV :)  
> If you are enjoying this, let me know!


	13. Jaime

All that morning had gone on discussion about illegal people and the problems they created. _People cannot be illegal_ , thought Jaime, _they are just people, that's all_. He hated these political disputes, he rather be hunting the hound. When they finally reached that point he received a message for Brienne. He communicated this new information to army men they started commenting on the possible outlaws and about that android lady.

 

Later that day he received an alert message of Pod, it was the perfect opportunity to grab these outlaws, the fog they used usually disabled the cameras so they were difficult to catch. He did not need to mention to them how worried he was about Brienne. They manage to save her but she was badly hurt. Her left cheek and arm were bleeding a lot, he thought that she might not have made it. She did though.

 

The doctors promised the scar was not going to be big, that it would be small in a couple of months. Now it looked quite bad still. In any case, he was relieved when she woke up but then he remembered that she had almost committed suicide, Pod had told him. She seemed confused and guilty, but he made her see that thing was not Lady Catelyn and tried to make her promise not to die. Looking back, that was a stupid promise, but he still was annoyed when she did not make him that promise. He knew how much she cared about her word.

 

They left for Riverrun and arrived the day after. There was a problem with a Frey that wanted to take the Tully's commanding building as it had been agreed. The original owners disagreed with this and wouldn't turn off the field around it and refused to give it away. Trying to be as politically nice as possible, Jaime decided to solve this problem by releasing Edmure Tully and make him agree to turn the field off. The following morning the building is taken as pacifically as possible but Brynden Tully is nowhere to be found. The Blackfish he is called, a sympathizer of the Starks and once a brilliant commander of the Riverrun city.

 

Jaime is a bit annoyed but does not care that much. They might laugh at him now. After solving a minor issue between Bracken and Blackwood he receives a Raven. Brienne has not been successful with the people in the city so she's working on tracing the ship. He goes to his room and hears the news alone. It's a communication of Cersei, “Come back soon, I need you like never before, come now, I love you-” he crushes the Raven. It's not it's fault and he can imagine Brienne's reaction to such a waste. Still, he is so angry. _This is all your doing, you are were you deserve to be. I cannot save you_. _I'm on a mission, I made a promise, Brienne needs me_

 

“Jaime, I found it!” She storm in, he is still holding the broken raven in his hand “... are you ok?”

 

“Yes, yes” he cleans his hands “what did you find?”

 

“Yes, I could find the ship, it went to the Vale. We should take the tunnels, we would get there faster”

 

“Of course, we'll do as you say”

 

…....................................................

 

 

He grabbed her legs, up and pressed against her, almost reaching her head, she was so elastic... and plunged inside, in and out, going faster and faster, she had never been this wet. Now she was screaming, then moaning, and then begging “Oh Jaime yes, please.. deeper, please! Fuck me, Jaime, fuck me! Ruin me!”. _Louder, scream louder, beg me again_ he thought but said nothing, just went faster, enjoying the sounds their bodies were making, their moaning almost in pair. She shivered and screamed and he felt himself exploding inside her. He looked at her eyes, blue, honest, gorgeous eyes. 

 

Panting and sweating he woke up, that dream again. He had always had dreams similar to this one, it was not uncommon. Most of the times it was a faceless, nameless female shape, sometimes it had long blond hair and green eyes, a Cersei-like shape and sometimes it was just Cersei. Lately that female shape was changing, it was becoming bigger, larger than him even, with short dirty-blond hair and blue eyes... It made him uncomfortable to think about that. He felt dirty for thinking about her like that, he grabbed a glass of water and throw it over himself, that and his shame made his morning glory go limp. 

 

Brienne was a virgin, she had said she wanted her first time to be meaningful. Despite how good a pilot and how smart she was, she was still a girl. She probably wanted to be treated nicely. If it ever happened – of course it was not going to happen with _him_ – she would not be screaming these dirty things. She would probably need to be loved slowly, not taken violently like that. She would probably blush, maybe even after being kissed... those images made him grow hard again and he cursed himself. He couldn't allow himself to think about her like that but the more he tried to put these thoughts away the more he dreamed about her, the more she appeared in his mind. 

 

That entire day was very awkward. Every time Brienne spoke to him the images appeared and he could only hear _her_ , the woman he had dreamed about, screaming.

 

 

“Jaime, I wanted to show you, here, you see this video here, that's the same ship that left Maidenpool city few days after Sansa escaped....” 

_Jaime... Jaime_

 

“Pod, could you please pass me....”

_Please, please...!_

 

“No, Pod, we could probably cannot go there, it just goes deeper...”

_Deeper, please!_

 

“Probably no, it would ruin the surprise...”

_Ruin me!_

 

There was no way of concentrating on the conversation when her voice kept repeating the same things that other had said. Her screams kept coming to Jaime the whole day. It was torture.

 

“Jaime are you feeling alright? Jaime?” and she shook him. “Are you daydreaming?”

 

“No, wench, I'm fine”

 

“Wench? You have not called me that in some time, what did I do?” and she laughed. Such a pretty little sweet laugh he felt his heart skipped a beat. It was even worse, those thoughts with that smile, and those innocent eyes she kept on him. He was going to explode.

 

“Nothing, I'm just tired”

 

“Ok, you could go to sleep then, it's already very late, we are fine here, we will probably arrive at the Vale in a couple of days”

 

He was not fine that night. He dreamed of knives, chimeras and Brienne and him running from ghosts. 

 

“Jaime, are you unwell? I heard noises” _Not again, not you again._

 

“Yes, please, just leave me”

 

“Are you upset with me for some reason Jaime? You have avoided me the whole day and we needed you to plan our next move” she seemed worried.

 

“You said you were fine” he avoided looking at her eyes.

 

“But maybe you aren't”

 

She placed her hand in his forehead. Her hand was so warm and her head was so close... And Jaime snapped. Maybe it was the surprise, but Brienne did not fight. Fast as a lion with a prey, he was on top of her. One hand trapped by his above her head, the other trapped by the pressure of his body against hers. His other _hand_ grabbing her arm. Eyes wide open, she barely gasped “Jaime?”. And he looked at her, her mouth, her face, and those eyes, glorious beautiful eyes..., for some reason he wanted to take his time now and Brienne was not throwing him away as she so easily could. He could hear her heartbeats, faster, faster and it felt as an enticing song. A song he could hear for the rest of his live. As he closed their distances Brienne just asked softly, blinking nervously “Jaime, what are you doing?”. He could smell her breath now, and Heavens did it thrilled him. 

 

A strange noise took him out of his reverie and Brienne seized the opportunity to escape him. He was about to protest when she said “It's the alarm, someone is near”

 

Immediately they went to the control room. 

 

“Hope this time is not the Brotherhood without Banners” 

 

“That is not even funny” she said grimly, busy checking the external surveillance.

 

Jaime made himself useful by activating the camouflage gadget and controlling the weapons. They had enough but he needed to do something to try and forget what had _almost_ happened.

 

It was not the the Brotherhood, it was nothing than a small ship. It certainly knew where they were and asked for an interview and said he came in peace. Brienne knew who the person was, she did not seem to be happy but did not protest either. 

 

The bridge of both ships connected and Hyle Hunt came alone. 

 

“My lady, such a happy day when we finally meet again”

 

“Cut it, why are you here?” Brienne replied

 

“I was cordially invited to retire, in fact both Inchfield and I were given that courtesy after your departure. I decided then that I needed to follow my heart and placed a tag on your gun”

 

“What?” said both Brienne and Jaime 

 

“Well it's true. Dear Brienne I have checked our sheets we would be a perfect match, I came to ask you to marry me” and he gave her a hyacinth. Flowers were really hard to get and Brienne seemed not as angry as Jaime would have expected. At least she did not take the flower.

 

“What is this, who are you? Where did you meet this guy?” Jaime said impatiently.

 

“We both worked for Renly's army once, he is no foe, but he likes to make jokes like this”

 

“No joke my lady, this flower is indeed for you, I am not trying to pretend. My proposal is serious” said Hyle.

 

Brienne stared at him, crossed her arms and said. “Your ship is starting to fail, isn't it? You were never good at maintenance and you should have known that not every ship is made for these tunnels”

 

Hyle looked like a kid caught in the middle of stealing candy. Then he said “That might be true, but I still wanted to follow my heart, I have to be true to it and-”

 

“The answer is no” Then she looked at Jaime “We are near Red Fork city, we can leave him there”

 

“Drag him and his silly ship with us? No”

 

“Jaime”

 

“No!” and he left. But Brienne was fast and swiftly placed herself in front of him. “We cannot let him here, he'll die. Jaime, please. He's harmless”

 

“Fine, but we'll put him in a cell, I do not want him roaming around. And the ship stays here, let him look for another at Red Fork” He looked at Hyle. “In fact, I'll put him in a cell”

 

Hyle was almost pleased. Knowing Brienne, it was a mystery why she had not crushed the flower and slapped this idiot senseless.

 

When he got Hyle in the cell he decided he needed to know what was going on.

 

“Ok, spill it out, where do you know her from and what is this joke of a proposal”

 

Hyle just laughed. “As she said, we were both part of Renly's Army. We got along wonderfully, that is why I decided to marry her”

 

“I don't believe you”

 

He must have misunderstood Jaime's angry voice for one of scorn because he replied “She is quite big and not nice to look upon, but she does have a nice background despite that, and she is not stupid. She is probably still a virgin even” And he licked his lips. That upset him even more.

 

“Why would you care about that?”

 

“Oh, we made this bet when we were at the army, I started it actually, it was about who would take her to bed first” He laughed again then continued “we were unsuccessful but just the look on her face when we were all courting her, it was hilarious”

 

He opened the cell, entered and unceremoniously started hitting him. The commotion drew the attention of Brienne that came to separate them.

 

“What is this madness?”

 

“Madness is to keep this idiot”

 

“We have already discussed this, just leave” and he did. He could not stand how nice she was with him.


	14. Brienne

One moment she was sure he was upset with her or maybe sick, the next she found herself lying in Jaime's bed, with him on top of her looking in such a way that she felt as a rabbit trapped by a lion. For some time that felt like ages, he just stared at her. A mixture of fear, expectation and excitement flooded inside her. She did not know what she was saying and he did not reply anyway. Then he started to become closer, and closer, and closer...

 

The alarm went on. She freed herself from his embrace and they both forgot about the whole business until after they settled what to do with Hyle Hunt. 

 

Hunt was a jerk but he did not deserve to die, so he became their _guest_. Jaime seamed ridiculously annoyed by him. Hyle was being ridiculous as well, what with all that story that he had just needed to _follow his heart_ as a reason to have planted that GPS track and followed them. Despite that horrible bet he had started on her virginity, she knew he was not a bad person. He had almost stopped Inchfield from entering her cell after all. Not that she could not have fought him but still, it had been nice of him.

 

Jaime insisted a lot on just throwing him away “Let him die out there” he said many times. For an entire day he forgot to pick on her, he picked on Hyle instead. They went on and on on who is the better pilot, who has the better aim, even who cooks better, it was unbearable. All that stupidity made her forget about their strange morning.

 

The next morning she was about to leave her room when someone entered, no one usually did, they just let her be so she was surprised. It was Jaime. They had not been totally alone since the last morning, her stomach hurt again in that curious way.

 

“Brienne, we need to get rid of that guy, he's probably a spy” he said as a way of greeting.

 

“Uhm, no he is not, he had no other specific device apart from that tracking one” 

 

“Why do you insist on keeping him?” 

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“Answer me”, he smelled of anger

 

“He is innocent, and why do you hate him so much?

 

“He told me about the bet, he thought it was funny”

 

“Oh”, she realized she was disappointed “it was really cruel of him”

 

“It was monstrous, why do you want him here?

 

“I do not, but he's here, we can just leave him in the next city if you want but we cannot throw him here, he'll die”

 

“And what if he does, less scum in the world”

 

“It would not be right”

 

“And did he care about that when he started that bet? Have you forgiven him so easily? Or do you like him? Want him to win the bet?”

 

Brienne blushed furiously “No, of course not, how could you suggest that?”, she was getting upset now. “What is your problem?”

 

“My problem? He and not understanding why do you protect him, those are my problems”

 

“But you don't even know him”

 

“You do, but why, just tell me why?”

 

“I already told you, it's because he is innocent, he just probably want the ransom, that's why he's following us, he wants Sansa's ransom, he's not in love with me”

 

“How are you so sure?”

 

Her hand went to her face. She had to laugh at that. “No one has ever been, no one ever really wanted me, don't be ridiculous”

 

“What if someone has?” and he took her hand into his. That intense stare of his again, burning her. 

 

 _Oh no. You know what he means to do..._ but another voice in her head said _Yes, but stay, you do want it._

 

Every second he became closer. A part of her knew what this meant, even knew that it might not end all chaste and cute. Even then, she ignored her fears and gave a step ahead, meeting him halfway and moving at the same time he did. 

 

 _I want to feel wanted, and I want to want it_ she had said to herself many times. The way their lips were pressing together, the way he was holding her, gentle but firm, they way their hearts were beating it felt that this must be it, someone wanting her. 

 

He caressed her back, her neck and played with her hair. She sighed and soon his tongue was inside her mouth. That little invasion thrilled her, as if she felt that it was an anticipation of what was to come. She shivered at the thought, it made her a bit nervous but still tried to respond to his tongue. He moaned when she did and held her with a stronger grip. She dared to continue playing but then his lower part started moving against hers and she gasped. He continue kissing her and then went to kiss her neck, slowly and sweetly. He did not stop moving and she started to react to that, she felt how slowly but surely it was becoming warmer at her juncture. In no time her jacket was on the floor, then his hand started pulling her shirt out of her pants and he finally touched the skin in her back. Having a man touching her without actually removing all her clothes was more exciting than what she could have imagined. His hand was warm and careful, he pressed against her skin but was not rushed. In the meantime his other _hand_ was busy unbuttoning her shirt.

 

Underneath the shirt, slowly his hand moved upwards, then to the side... she knew where he was going and her heart beat faster, her nipples hard already with the anticipation. But then someone knocked the door. 

 

They just stood there, quiet and entangled when they heard Pod. “My lady, someone from the Red Fork city wants to talk with the Commander of the ship”

 

Trying to sound as normal as possible she said “Sure, we are going now, I mean! _I'm_ going right now”. That did not went well.

 

They disentangled themselves and for a moment Brienne felt disappointed and awkward while she arranged herself and put on her jacket again. Then before she could reach the door Jaime placed both hands on her face and kissed her softly.

 

“Hope we can continue later, my lady” And Brienne smiled. 


	15. Jaime

He had never imagined that kissing Brienne would feel this good. She was obviously unexperienced but that was only making this sweeter. Even in her inexperience she was determined, she had approached, she had not waited just standing there as he was used to. He was going to be patient and proceed only as far as she would let him. 

 

Again they were interrupted and he had to clarify her, this was far from over. They found no evidence of Sansa there but they did find something. Brienne heard more about the rumor about the Stark kids. It was believed that they had build a huge machine to rebuild their city and that Bran commanded it. She even heard that the other girl was with them. Brienne told these things in private, once Hunt was not there anymore.

 

They checked really well that there was no deadhead this time. Then they unceremoniously left Hyle at the Red Fork city. He protested and insisted on marrying Brienne, said she had beautiful lips, all sort of things. They left him behind anyway. The Red Fork city, as any other, needed hands to rebuilt itself, so he would find a job there.

 

That night he went to her bedroom and the moment she closed the door he kissed her very passionately. She responded with equal passion. Jaime wanted to taste all of her, he did not want to rush, he wanted to treat her like a delicate treasure. She wanted it to be meaningful, he could give her that. He caressed her back, her neck, her arms, once and again, she did the same. Her heart was beating faster with every minute, his was doing the same. He kissed her cheeks, her ear, her neck, all while releasing her of her clothes. First she moaned and did not move, then she started helping him out of his clothes as well. Her hands were warm on his skin, it made him shiver. She sighed when he bared her breast and looked slightly embarrassed. 

 

Cupping her face with his hands, the real and the fake one, he asked “What is it? If you want I'll stop”

 

“No, it's just... I know that I... I just don't look as feminine... as others” she looked down

 

“This is how much I care about that” and he kissed her “ But tell me and I'll stop, we don't need to do this if you do not want to”

 

Looking at him she smiled. Her hands went behind his face “I do want this” and she kissed him. It was a sweet kiss but soon it became more urgent. He touched one breast and played with her nipple. She moaned and he kept on playing, then replaced his hand with his mouth and she moaned loudly. He kissed it, sucked and licked, enjoying all the different reactions it produced in her, gasp, moan, shivers, all of it was perfect. Kissing and feeling each other up, slowly they reached her bed. They fell on top of it. 

 

Filling his trail of breasts, abdomen and belly button with kisses, he arrived finally at the last piece of clothes she had left. He caressed her strong tights and she kept moaning and shivering. Slowly he took her underwear with his teeth and she sighed so loudly Pod must have heard her. Jaime did not care, he was old enough to know about these things. Kissing her tights he went back to her juncture and licked it and Brienne almost screamed his name, a good scream, a passionate one. He licked more, enjoying her shivers and moans, then he kissed her clitoris and she gasped and arched in such a way that he just had to put his finger inside her. “Jaime, heavens, Jaime!” that only convinced him of placing another finger and move it faster, faster and faster until she came screaming... but he did not stop there, he drove her to the edge again with his tongue this time and she came again. 

 

They were both sweating by now and he was relieved he had managed to hold on this long, he did not want to spend himself so fast, like a teenager. But now he could not hold it for so long, he did not even want to. He went up, reached her face and she kissed him. She was red but it suited her nicely. The look she gave him indicated that she understood, grabbing – almost groping actually – his butt she guided him to her entrance. And she gasped again when he entered, she was as wet as she could be, but still very tight. They started moving slowly and he could see she wanted to experiment so he encouraged to keep moving. Her legs crossed behind his back and she kept moving. Soon they were both moaning and moving faster, as if the world outside was about to end. Later when she screamed again he finally let go and reached his peak. Exhausted, he fell on top of her. 

 

“I did not know one could get anywhere on their first time” she said some minutes later, almost laughing

 

“Sure you can, you just need to relax” and then he looked at her “then why would you want it?”

 

She blushed but laughed and hit his arm “Oh, don't!... It's just that I wanted it to be meaningful, I told you already”

 

“Was it?” he asked kissing her collarbone.

 

“Well, I should ask you as well”

 

And he knew this was a loaded question. He kissed her again “To me, yes, to you?”

 

“Yes” and they laughed together. 

 

“Would you like another bath?” he said some minutes later.

 

She looked amused “are you serious?”

 

“We do have one tube, I'm sure we both fit in there, for good old times sake”

 

“But Pod-”

 

“Has probably heard all so what about it?”

 

“Well...”

 

“Come on, just an innocent little bath”

 

She gave him a look like saying _I don't believe you for one second_ but said “Fine”.

 

The bath was hot but soothing. They were there for some minutes when he asked her “Do you want me to help you with your back?”

 

Raising an eyebrow she said “What are you planning?” 

 

“Nothing” he said trying to look as innocent as possible.

 

“Liar” but she gave him the soap and gave him her back. He washed and massaged her back and she seemed to enjoy that a lot. 

 

Then he washed the soap away and started drawing her shoulders and neck with his nose. That made her shiver and he smiled. Then he whispered at her ear “I guess you still have not tried _dancing_ in the water, Brienne”

 

“Dancing? What do you mean by- Oh” his hand slided to her entrance and started touching her. She was blushing again, so sweetly... he placed himself in front of her and dived. Even there he could tell when she screamed his name again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm keeping my word here, so if you enjoyed it so far let me know!


	16. Brienne

Some myths died that night. First, the one that says that first times are always pain and nothing but pain. Yes it had been painful at the beginning but Brienne was used to pain and it had receded after some minutes. The second was that people can not have sex under water. And many myths regarding ugly women were also shattered. Jaime was a very attractive men and he had chosen her. He had even been jealous, he confessed that night and she still wanted to laugh about it.

 

She was so overwhelmed by happy feeling she almost forgot they were about to reach the Vale. Lady Lysa died soon after marrying Lord Baelish, a singer was condemned. Even then people rumored it was all too convenient. Lord Baelish would not just allow them to take Sansa so it was not going to be easy. She had managed to contact the radio channel a couple of times and carefully discuss some ideas.

 

Jaime convinced Lord Baelish that they were on their way to the Wall, there had been some rumors about strange creatures and invasions. “We just decided to visit other cities in the way to asses that you lack for nothing”.

 

While Jaime expend days observing the city and hearing the demands of the citizens, Brienne expend her days in the kitchen of the Commander's house. Lord Baelish was rumored to have a daughter, Alayne, one that was always wearing a hat and a veil, as some girls liked these days. Talking with people in the kitchen was always useful, there usually was too much noise for surveillance to be able to understand what was being said so people were more chatty than others. Brienne stood in the kitchen, under the excuse she was very hungry all the time and even enjoyed the company of the cookers. Pod was with her when Lady Alayne went to order diner one day. He flinched and gave Brienne a very significant stare and a small nod. 

 

“My lady, I brought a gift with me for you” and she gave the girl a package.

 

“Thank you that is very nice of you” the girl said giving a small courtesy and she left. 

 

Brienne waited that night near the fountain and was almost losing all hope when she saw someone coming near. 

 

“I don't have much time” she said quietly “Where did you get them?”

 

“Your mother gave them to me, I could have never used them but I kept them on her memory”

 

Her eyes remained hidden behind her veil but Brienne could still tell the girl was holding back her tears. She had recognized the make of her mother's tailor.

 

“How did you knew?”

 

“Someone that I am with knows you, said it was the same movements, the same delicacy...”

 

“Why should I trust you and what are your plans concerning me?”

 

“Your sister and brothers are alive, we want you to go to them. We can take you but we need to be quick”

 

“How do you know?”

 

“I spoke with Bran” that took her by surprise

 

“You did? How?”

 

“It was not easy, he sends codified messages through a radio channel and I communicated in the same way. He is alive but... they need you. He is with a group of rebels from houses in the North, apparently many cities fell after the Starks lost and they are now at Winterfell. Wolf rebels can be found in every city, some of then will help us tonight, we need to leave”

 

The girl seemed to doubt but then they heard it. Lights started to fail and a ship fell to the ground with a thunderous noise. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally Sansa and Brienne meet.  
> Comments are always appreciated :)


	17. Jaime

The Vale was pure chaos the moment they left. Someone had hacked the control systems of the city, security was turned down, some ships crashed, people ran thinking they were being attacked, many had died, crushed by the ships or by the destroyed buildings. It had not been easy to reach their ship but they had made it. Brienne seemed conflicted but he waited until later that night to ask her.

 

“Her brother is just a kid” she replied “I find it hard to believe a little kid would plan such monstrosity, hurting that many innocent people, some died... what if I am wrong, what if whatever is that we are going to find is not the Stark kids...”

 

“We have no other place to go, so we'll have to find out. In any case, she is probably safer with the rebels than with Littlefinger, that man looked at her with lust”

 

She seemed disturbed by that and he hug her, dragging her closer to him. “Sleep now, we have a long way to go”

 

Strangely, they had not misfortune during their trip. It was an eerily quiet trip, even for the tunnels. Sansa seemed to get used to Pod and Brienne's company soon. She still looked at Jaime with mistrust though.

 

“Say it” he said to her one day when they were alone at the control room.

 

“What?” she replied looking somewhere else.

 

“You don't trust me, you are upset because I'm a Lannister”

 

“You are not just _any_ Lannister” she said with badly hidden rage.

 

“I did what I thought necessary to protect my family”

 

“You almost killed him!”

 

“I was trying to do that” he said looking at her. “My own kids would have died on the hands of that Robert if I did not shut your brother's mouth. My sister would have been abandoned by him, maybe killed as well.”

 

Her look was pure contempt. 

 

“Your brother almost destroyed a city now only to take you out of it, we all do terrible things for the ones we love”

 

“Do not compare yourself to him! ...and I am sure he had nothing to do with all that, others must have done it”

 

She almost left when he said “I am sorry... it was a terrible thing to do, I am sorry I almost killed your brother”. Looking at him one last time she left. Sansa may believe him, she may not, but he did meant it. When Brienne went back he could see she had a little smile that widened when she looked at him.

 

“I'm glad you said it” she finally said “she will come around, she will believe you”

 

“You were spying?”

 

“I was on my way back and heard you two discuss so, I just stood for a while outside”

 

“She hates me”

 

“But just because she does not know you, she will, once we get to Winterfell she will realize you were not planning on tricking her”

 

He wanted to say it but instead looked at her. She was probably the only person left in all Westeros that believed in him. The way she was looking at him now warmed his heart, it almost melted it. He did not say it.

 

They arrived at Winterfell the following day. It was still partly in ruins, but it was slowly starting to look as Jaime remembered it. The amazing machinery of the wolf was slowly regaining it's shape. A group of rebels received them, some of them even suggested capturing Jaime but Sansa politely indicated that he was her guest now. She was no longer wearing the hair dye and hat. 

 

Arya and Rickon were expecting them on the Commander's house. The girl was younger than Brienne, even younger than Sansa but Jaime recognized a killer's eyes when he saw them. _What happened to these kids?_

 

Sansa hugged her siblings and cried happily. Later she told them all about her escape from King's Landing and her escape from the Vale. 

 

“Where is Brandon?” Sansa asked at some point. Rickon looked at Arya with concern but the younger girl replied without even batting her eyelashes.

 

“He is busy. You will see him tonight” 

 

“How did you manage to hack the Vale?” asked Brienne.

 

Still stern, Arya said. “We have a good network connection and several men who detest the Lannisters”

 

“I am not here on any official matters” said Jaime.

 

“It is irrelevant since you are not leaving” a slight smile crossed her face, almost imperceptible. It was not a pretty sight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, I said I was going to update the other, but I want to finish this one first, and I'm nearly done with this one so, hope you like this :)


	18. Brienne

“Please, we only wanted to keep our word to your mother, return your sister home” she complained when men surrounded Jaime.

 

“Ser Jaime has only been helpful, it's true” said Sansa, “Arya, please, he's a guest”.

 

“Our mother was a guest at the Frey's and they slaughter her and our brother. They almost killed our younger brothers” replied Arya in a cold voice.

 

“Your mother is not dead” said Brienne.

 

“I saw her die” replied Rickon wildly.

 

Brienne told them about the Brotherhood without Banners and Lady Catelyn. Jaime and Pod confirmed it. 

 

“We should contact her, even if she does not look like herself, we should let her know we are alive ” said Sansa.

 

“It might be dangerous, but we have spies everywhere, some should look for her and tell her to come here. I will talk to Bran” said Arya, then looking at Jaime “Fine, he stays as guest but he should be guarded”

 

Brienne spoke to Sansa later, she agreed that he should be made comfortable and that she was going to talk with Arya about letting Jaime free. At least he was in a comfortable room. There was something amiss about that little girl, people even seemed to fear her and her eyes looked strange, not quite those of a 12 years old.

 

Later she took diner to Jaime's room.

 

“It's like she commands here, it makes no sense, she's a little girl”

 

“She's no common girl, something happened to her”

 

“And I do not understand what is going on with that boy Brandon, he was fine the last time I saw him. Where is he now?”

 

“You will have to find that out with Pod, I cannot leave this room”

 

“It's such an injustice, you saved Sansa and now, she won't even listen, they don't even try to understand, they just accuse you and lock you up like some criminal, you already apologized, they don't understand all we have been through...” Arya seemed convinced he was guilty. It frustrated Brienne so much how they misunderstood Jaime, how everybody always assumed he was evil. 

 

He hugged her with all his strenght. She just sighed but when his hands started trying to open her shirt she removed them and was about to leave when Jaime spoke. 

 

“Brienne...” 

 

“Yes?”

 

“I love you”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> aaand that finally happened ;)


	19. Jaime

It might not have been the best time to say it but he finally did. She was genuinely concerned about him and upset at others for not believing in him. How she trusted him was so touching he had to say it. One minute she seemed shocked and the next she was kissing him fiercely. She would have stayed that night with him but after the noise they made the guards insisted on her leaving.

 

That morning he was given an audience with the Starks. Sansa, Brandon, Arya and Rickon were seated and a long wooden table was in front of them. Two other kids and a woman were seating on the table next to them. Brienne and Pod were standing next to Jaime. Brandon seemed tired and his eyes also seemed different, older.

 

“My sister Sansa said you apologized to her”

 

Jaime never thought that it would be this difficult to talk with a kid. He gathered his courage and said “Yes, and I understand your grudge but I would like to apologize to you as well, I was trying to protect my family”

 

“I understand” he said quietly “I forgive you”. 

 

“What, just like that?” protested some men

 

“I forgive him” said Brandon solemnly “You should too. Have you not read the reports I sent you?”

 

The men remained quiet.

 

“There is enough evidence that this man has renounced his family” he looked at the boy and at the girl sitting in the nearby table, the girl smiled and nodded “he seems to have other interests now” 

 

“I can confirm that” said Sansa “he remained loyal to the promises made to our mother.”

 

“But we can only forgive you if you renounce to your family completely, renounce what you have inherited and adopt another” announced Arya.

 

“One part of that will be easy, my father already disinherited me” said Jaime almost laughing.

 

The kids exchanged surprised looks but then Sansa said “You still have to agree to take another name... maybe the one of your... wife” the last word was pronounced very carefully and the girl looked at Brienne. They were all looking at Brienne.

 

She was just as shocked as when Jaime had said he loved her, probably as red as well. 

 

“My lady, he has been loyal and true, he provided us with a ship, gold, guns, all that we needed to find you, it is not right to return loyalty with incarceration and let alone force him to marry against his will” said Brienne.

 

“Who said it was going to be against my will?” said Jaime, he knew she meant well but it tired him how oblivious Brienne remained about what he wanted. 

 

“We... have not been matched... and I thought-”

“I don't care about matches, I would have asked you to marry me eventually or maybe would have wanted to live together, in any case, would you have me?”

 

She seemed confused but said “Yes” and smiled. 

 

“Then it's done, you just have to register us and then they can call me Jaime of Tarth” he honestly did not care. He understood that they meant to make his last name disappear as a political move but that was something he could not care less about.

 

They had a small ceremony, not even that, just a gathering and they were registered as man and wife. He felt sorry for Brienne, she may have wanted to have her father at the event but they may have another day, maybe in the future, where they could have a nicer wedding. Even under these circumstances she seemed radiant.

 

He was happy that they let them have their night together. It was great to be out in the open about their relationship, to not have to hide, just being able to hold her hand in public filled Jaime with joy. Their wedding night was sweet and beautiful. They almost did not sleep, both felt such relief of being free of all that sneaking around it seemed they were going to consume each other. Finally, he could moan her name in peace.

 

He would have never imagined that being stripped of his lands and even last name would lead to so much happiness. It was the last morning in a long time that he was going to wake up so free of worries. 

 

That morning Sansa took them to a building and they entered a dark chamber. Inside they saw many cables and a huge machine, shaped as a tree. 

 

“This is the Weirwood. Arya planned it but Bran is the one who controls it. Nobody else was suited” said Sansa.

 

The boy was sitting in the center, almost entirely covered by the cables. He was connected to that thing. Eyes closed, he seemed to be dreaming. It made Jame shiver for some reason, it was eerie and somehow slightly macabre to use a kid in that way. 

 

“Is he alright there? Doesn't that hurt him?” asked Brienne

 

“It doesn't, he is tired sometimes but he likes it, and _it_ likes him” said Sansa

 

“It?”

 

“Artificial Intelligence, or so says Arya” Sansa sounded unconvinced. “He can connect to almost any network, he extracts information and then Arya makes reports about it. Rickon has been mostly working with the animal breeders and the Reeds are supporting Bran, he sometimes needs their help”

 

“On what?” asked Jaime

 

Sansa seemed flustered but recovered quickly “I did not bring you here to discuss that, Brandon asked me to bring you because there is something you need to know”

 

“What happened?” asked Brienne.

 

Sansa looked tentatively at Jaime. Was she sorry for him? “Myrcella and Tommen...”

 

He felt suddenly cold. They were good kids, sweet kids...

 

“Who did it?” he heard himself ask. Brienne gasped.

 

“It might have been an accident, reports said... the person who caused it made a mistake”

 

“Just tell me” He hated people who avoided answering simple questions.

 

“Here” she pressed a button, a panel opened and he could read the report. His blood froze. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and though sth happy happened something terrible followed, more explanations in next chapter!


	20. Cersei

That monstrous little beast, how could she accuse her of fraud? She needed to be taught a lesson. Inventing charges was easy, then she invented witnesses as well. The Tyrells also must have many secrets they did not want to share. She was going to find them and make them as public as possible, invent some if not. With her leadership questioned, her uncle had took charge of the Command at King's Landing. It infuriated her.

 

With Qyburn's help she found some in the scientist teams wanted to _confess_ some crimes they had committed at the _Roses_ corporation. Some of the products they announced as safe could produce cancer under some specific circumstances, that was going to ruin their company for sure. Anyone who could release a product that could cause disease was seeing as the worst. _Errors from the past generations_ they called it. _Errors that caused our doom_. Anybody that did something that backwards would see his power collapse. Cersei was going to make sure Margaery fell for sure.

 

Yes she was sure Tyrion was guilty of murdering her son but he must have received help from others to escape. The Martells? The Tyrells? Maybe all. And both her remaining kids were at Dorne, luckily she had sent a ship to bring them back. There were news of attacks from The Crackens at the east and news of soldiers invading the southern floating cities. Her kids needed to get back to her.

 

Qyburn also said he had found very well hidden some interesting bomb designs that he wanted to experiment on. Cersei gave him complete freedom to do that. She had few allies but she trusted Qyburn, he had served her well. Then there was Taena, the girl seemed obsessed with Cersei and she liked the attention. 

 

She had always loved to be the most important thing for someone. She did not doubt she was that for Jaime, that was why he always obeyed her, or used to always obey her. It was still very strange that he had not come back after she sent for him. With so few allies around her she wanted to have him near, he wanted Jaime to be the one in charge of bringing back her children. She had to send someone else when the signal for the Raven disappeared, by now her kids must be near King's Landing. Someone must have destroyed it on its way to Jaime, he would have never rejected her, she was sure about that. 

 

Cersei also had the childish idea that when he arrived he would just kill the Tyrells and Martells. He would if she asked him to do so. Even then, she had to admit to herself that he had behaved strangely lately, once even asked to marry him, how stupid. It would have been admitting that the kids were a product of incest, it would not be accepted. He had rejected her ideas and insisted on some that she considered stupid. He had become so unbearable she had to send him away. Now she regretted having done that. She had other lovers but no one knew her as Jaime did and she missed him.

 

Qyburn arrived at her chamber with a smile in his face. “I have two good news, the first experimental bomb is ready to be tested and we believe it may even penetrate fields. And the second we finally deciphered the origin of the poison”

 

“Those sound like good news indeed, when can we try them? And what is the origin?” finally she was going to know.

 

“It's from a small store in Dorne. We can try them this night”

 

“So it was the Martells, it is only obvious, they always held that grudge on us after his stupid daughter died in the last war. We will make them pay. I'll be there tonight” she was going to get her revenge, finally.

 

That night she got ready, wearing her best clothes, she liked looking powerful at her moment of triumph. If these bombs were as good as they told her, she could destroy Dorne and Highgarden and be done with them. She did not need them.

 

The lab was at the basement, Qyburn said it was more discreet that way. He talked about the advances, the bomb, what a success it was going to be and so and so. She was almost getting bored when he showed her the button that was going to launch the bomb.

 

“Has my lady decided where does she want to try? There are several abandoned islands that could be reached..”

 

“Dorne”

 

“Excuse me?”

 

“Send it to Dorne” she saw doubt in Qyburn's eyes. “Do it”

 

“Insert the coordinates for Dorne” said Qyburn. Cersei smiled. She saw the technicians obeying Qyburn and she tasted glory. 

 

She stepped and pushed the button, nobody was going to deny her that power.

 

“My Lady! What have you done?” Qyburn and the others seemed scared.

 

“Did you believe I was going to let you do that? I will recover the command, I am the Commander still, my uncle is only warming the chair for me”

 

“My lady, we still had not finished inserting the coordinates...”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“It will not fall in Dorne” he said

 

“What?”

 

“It will fall near Dorne, but not exactly there” explained one of the technicians, shaking with fear.

 

“Fine, let them take that as a warning, build another bomb” she said dismissively.

 

“My lady, it will not be easy, we need too many resources and the Commander... the temporal Commander would not allows us to access them” said Qyburn.

 

“I will solve that” No one was going to stop her now that she was finally so close to power.

 

She went to her uncle's room and opened the door brusquely. He was not there. She looked around for at least an hour before she found him. When she entered Dr. Pycelle's room she recoiled due to the horrendous smell. 

 

“Uncle Kevan?” she said covering her nose but he did not reply. Then she turned on the lights and saw him. He was sitting on his chair, a spear was protruding from his chest. The Dr. was also dead, but by a quarrel. _The same that had killed her father. It was the Imp._

 

 _A spear... Dorne, it was them, they knew... how?_ It was not possible, how could they have guessed she was planning on attacking them? 

 

Soldiers entered the room with Loras Tyrell at their command. “Seize her”

 

“What is the meaning of this? I did not kill him, I only just arrived”

 

“We will see about that in the surveillance, you are arrested for murder”

 

“What? I did not kill anybody, I have not left the city” this was madness

 

“Did you or didn't you launch a bomb today? We saw the video”

 

“Yes I did, it was a test”

 

“It worked, a ship was hit, no one survived” said Loras. 

 

“It was a mistake, I misunderstood the directions” Cersei shrugged “We'll send our regards to the families of the deceased”

 

Loras was shocked. That silly little idiot, he knew noting about politics, collateral damage is normal in war. 

 

“I'm afraid that may not be possible” said Margaery Tyrell stepping in front of her brother. _That little bitch_. “You do not even realize what you did” 

 

She detested Margaery and if there was someone she would not take pity from was her.

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“The ship that was hit... it was a Lannister ship” 

 

Margaery's last words were spears, crushing Cersei's heart.

 

And Cersei cried.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for them, but with her going that mad it was to be expected she would be the ruin from everything she loves, she is her own valonqar in this story.


	21. Brienne

Jaime mourned his children in silence. He would only hug her and kiss her at night, said nothing but she could tell when he had cried. It had been a terrible mistake, Cersei had almost restarted the research on the bombs Jaime so much wanted to hide. Luckily they probably never found the last versions of them, the bomb did destroy the ship but it could not have defeated the defense of a city.

 

“I was never a parent to them” he said that night “Cersei never gave me the chance and I never tried”.

 

“I heard they were good kids, people loved Myrcella” 

 

“They would have loved Tommen if they had known him”

 

The ship should have been back to King's Landing but Tommen had liked so much the cats of some of the Ladies in Dorne that he stood longer. Few days before they were supposed to have left little kittens had been born. He wanted to wait until they were old enough to leave with him. Tommen had asked not to tell his mother and Cersei had just assumed they followed her orders without questioning. She was arrested but the Tyrells and Martells did not agree on who should be the Commander now that Kevan was also dead.

 

It took some days for Jaime to recover good humor. Bad news were far from over though. 

 

The Wall demanded attention and Bran assured them there were real reasons for concern. They had a hard time believing it but he was sure that the Others had come back. They had been seen south of the Wall and at least a city had fell on their attack.

 

Other reports indicated that a powerful fleet was attacking the south. The head of the attack was none other than Daenerys Targaryen.

 

Daenerys was rumored to be the mastermind behind _The Dragons_. There was talk that they were the best fighting machines in all of Westeros. Everybody had considered her a mad woman when she started looking for the _Dragon stones_. Those were long gone from the face of the earth before she had been born. The _Dragon stones_ were found only near volcanoes that were still active but no mines remained closed to them anymore. However she had been convinced she could find them and that they will react to her, because not anyone can make them work but once it's done they are a sure and lasting source of energy. Dragon stones are not easy to handle, machines powered by them need to be controlled by a powerful and trained mind. Man had died trying to control one of the Dragons, trying to steal them but they were controlled only by their _mother_. It was said that another Targaryen controlled one of them, but no one was clear on who he was.

 

The men of the Northern Lands did not care about the problems of the South. They had caused enough trouble. They were getting ready for the Others. Brienne knew Jaime and her needed to decide what were they going to do.

 

“Jaime... we are free now, do you...” it was difficult to ask, but she needed to deal with this “do you wish to help your sister? Do you wish to go south?”

 

The look he gave her was a mixture of amuse and unbelief “What are you drinking Brienne?”

 

“I'm serious Jaime!”

 

“Why would I want to go there?”

 

“She...” she sighed before continuing “she's the only family you have left”

 

“No, there's still Tyrion” he sounded sad.

 

“Still, what do you want to do?”

 

“It is pretty obvious to me, I have no lands and have resigned my name, the only thing left to me is keep going. In the South it's only humans fighting humans, over here we have a greater danger”

 

“I agree with that”

 

“Then we have made up our mind” 

 

She was somehow relieved by Jaime's choice. 

 

That night he did seem interested in more than hugging. It could be one of the last nights they were going to have in peace so they tried to use it as well as possible. She never thought she would have one day be on the edge of a terrifying war and feel such happiness. The feel of his hands on her were pure bliss. They were knowing each other more and more each day, she was learning better ways to please Jaime and exploring him had become her favorite activity. They kissed fiercely while they touched each other, then she was on top of him, pushing him inside her and moving as if they were desperate. Never in her life she would have imagined that much need, that much hunger could be caused by someone, that she could feel that. Now she knows he likes when she holds his wrists strongly, not allowing him to move. She loved when he called her name as he peaked. 

 

But what really melted her heart was when he looked at her once they were laying next to each other afterwards. He always told her he loved her in these moments and even now that made her blush. 

 

They left that morning, other ships left with them. Many stood behind, they needed to defend the Starks. Arya wanted to leave but she was convinced they still needed fighters in Winterfell. Brienne disagreed but Pod would not stay without her. He did not seem to have desisted on finding Tyrion but he remained loyal to Brienne.

 

They went to Karhold city. The city was in good estate but when they arrived they received disturbing reports. Stannis was in the Wall.


	22. Jaime

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Brienne struggles with a promise and Jaime forces her to make another one. They reach the Wall.

He did not know if he could ask that of her. Could Brienne realize these were times to forget old grudges? She had always been stubborn.

 

“Brienne, I know this must be difficult...”

 

“He killed his own brother”

 

“And I killed my Commander, freed my brother so that he could kill my father, you still found a way to forgive me”

 

“It is not the same, you saved lives, you were sure your brother was innocent and you did not asked him to kill your father, he did that on his own. Stannis had no other reason but ambition to kill his own blood”

 

“It is not because you loved him? ...because you loved Renly?” he could not avoid a slight annoyance being perceived in his voice, jealousy showing its ugly face. It was absurd, not only was the man dead, had he been alive there were more chances of him being attracted to Jaime than to Brienne.

 

“No... I mean yes but, I promised to avenge him”

 

“Avenge him later. Stannis has men, we need them now. If we start to fight among ourselves we stand no chance against these creatures”

 

He could see that she struggled with these ideas but she reached no decision. Luckily they still had one day before arriving at the Wall. Brienne was very quiet, serious and pensive. He dread the conclusion of those thoughts. Her honor and how serious she took her vows could be their doom in this situation. He still considered himself lucky to have left Winterfell alive, though the Starks were still quite young the war had left scars in them as well. In two of them more than in the rest, and he was sure if given the opportunity Arya would have killed him in his sleep without blinking. He was sure his aiming hat gotten better thanks to practice and to Brienne's patience, but he would not have wanted to kill that girl and break his promise to Lady Catelyn. However changed she and her kids were, a man's word has to mean something, at least he wanted it to be the case for him now.

For this same reason he struggled with this dilemma. He could not let Brienne kill Stannis, only to be then killed herself by the Baratheon army. At the same time he could not force her to forsake her vows.

 

Once they reached the wall Brienne said to him. “I am not going to forgive him, I will let this go for now, but if he survives this, then I'll deal with him”

 

“Do as you want, just don't get yourself killed” she smiled “I am serious, promise me”

 

“How can I promise that?” she said almost smiling at the stupidity of what he was asking. He knew he was being irrational, but if he had to force her to vow not to get killed to keep at least a bit of peace of mind, he was going to.

 

“Promise you will not risk your life unnecessarily, not even for me, promise me”

 

“Jaime...”

 

“Promise me!” and he grabbed her hand.

 

“I promise it, no risky business”

 

“Better” and he kissed her.

 

Once they descended Commander Snow informed them of the situation. No one had ever been able to decipher exactly what were these creatures, mutants? It could be, during years before the Reconstruction had started many companies had disposed or their chemical or even nuclear waste in these cold lands. However their librarian, a geek named Sam Tarly, assured them that there was mention of these creatures from even before those days. It was difficult to determine the accuracy of some of their registers but the threat they represented remained the most important issue. He asked them and some other ships to go to Eastwatch by the Sea, he thought that the Others were entering through its tunnels. It was the least populated of its buildings. Jaime was thankful that Stannis was in another building.

 

When they reached there they found no signs of life. No one received them despite the signal the Commander had send. Brienne activated the warm detector and she found nothing. No warm bodies. Something was not right.

 

“We should not descend” communicated Brienne to the other ships. One of them decided they needed to be sure anyway. They went in the building and Brienne observed with the warm detector.

 

“There is no one but them there” she said to Jaime

 

Suddenly they saw that the warm figures were moving strangely. It took Jaime a minute to realize that he was observing as men were being torn to pieces.

 

“Nothing alive” answered him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay, life happens! Hope that you can enjoy this. I have in mind some explanation to what happened to Arya and Bran, but I may explore that in some other place one day.


	23. Brienne

It was not possible to eliminate these creatures. It did not matter how many times they were shot they kept coming. Only the light of the day kept them away. They saw that the men that were killed near these things disappeared but soon enough were back, to attack them. These could be eliminated, what originated them, no.

 

They had tried to destroy the building, close the entrance but when they did they realized that the creatures were not coming from the tunnels but were actually coming from the sea, surrounding the Wall.

 

The day they were about to flee a red ship appeared, bringing fire on the creatures. It was not normal fire. Brienne knew who the person was and it made her shiver. The red woman was there. 

 

It was difficult but she had to accept that that woman had saved them. Only 10 of the previous 30 ships that had arrived remained. She could not tell how they did it, it defied any logic, but she was still sure that beyond any doubt that what caused the other ships to freeze and shatter must have been these creatures.

 

They made a big fire that night. The Red Woman told them Stannis would arrive soon. She explained the properties of her special fire and told them she had enough munition to share with them. Jaime was kind enough to ask for them instead of her, she would not have been able to do so. She knew, she felt it somehow, that this woman was involved in Renly's death.

 

Brienne was discussing strategy with other men when she saw that woman approaching. Her stomach lurched and she directed her steps quickly towards her own ship.

 

“Lady Brienne” the woman called

 

Sighing, she faced the woman. “Just Brienne, I am no lady”

 

“As you wish, I am Melisandre, I heard about your efficiency and good command in this war. These men admire you”

 

“This war is far from over, there is nothing to admire”

 

“On the contrary, you have survived where others would have perished, it is quite remarkable”

 

 _How would she know?_

 

“Because I can see it, in my red stones” and she smiled.

 

It was disturbing that she had just answered a question she did not formulate. It was also disturbing how this woman could tolerate the cold with such little clothing and at the same time how much heat she seamed to irradiate.

 

“Do you wish to ask me for something?” It was better to deal with this woman as soon as possible.

 

“Forget our misunderstandings, in that way you can keep what is important, really important to you”

 

“Are you asking me to forget about Renly?” this woman made her furious.

 

“I am asking you to consider, what do you really value and to choose it over hate. If you do not, you will lose the first and drown in the other” and finally that woman left.

 

She kept turning and turning in her bed, unable to sleep. The words were engraved in her mind. She understood that for now she should give up on killing Stannis, but he should respond for his crimes. _What am I missing?_

 

The next attack was the most vicious they had had until that moment. Stannis did not arrive that day or the next. Despite having the fire of the Red Woman they still lost one ship. Soon they started sleeping during the day and fighting at night. But at the same time the days were becoming shorter. Soon they would have no rest. And that was not their only problem.

 

“We will have to land, tomorrow at the least” she announced. “None of us has enough energy to continue floating and keep us warm at the same time”

 

“We will be massacred, there are too many of them” said Jaime

 

“We need to ask for reinforcements” said one

 

“We were the reinforcement” said Brienne sadly

 

That morning felt like it was going to be their last. She wanted to make Jaime smile but could not find energy in herself to do that.

 

“I wouldn't have chosen anyone else, I'll rather die fighting and if it is today I'll rather it be with you by my side” he said to her before hugging her. As they landed she saw how the sun was setting. It was such a beautiful sight she could not believe it was going to be her last. She heard the noise outside, they were coming. A big shadow covered the sky and she felt sad the sun had already gone but she held her guns. 

 

When they opened the doors they saw that the big shadow was a fleet, three monstrous and reptile looking ships and others. _Dragons._ And the land burned.

 

Fire, unlike other she had ever seen. Stronger even than Lady Melisandre's fire. Ran and shoot, ran and shoot, that was all they knew for several hours. They finally reached a high point when it was starting to dawn and the attackers seemed to vanish.

 

Stannis miraculously arrived. The Dragons and Stannis ship landed at the same time, near were they were standing. A young woman with white hair left the dragon ship and Stannis left his. Brienne was fighting the urge to shoot him and for a moment she thought she was going to lose. She lost it. Then many things happened at the same time, as she was about to shoot Stannis she perceive how Jaime moved. She realized he was about to shoot the girl and panicked, but she was not the only one who realized.

 

Then Jaime screamed “Get inside your ships!” 

 

Three shots were heard and two bodies fell but Brienne could not tell in the confusion whether he was or not dead...


	24. Jaime

For a second he was transported to the days of Mad Aerys, the one that loved to burn everything and everybody. He had not much time to dream awake, they needed to run from the fire as much as from the creatures. He was still wondering how they manage to survive when the ships landed. The girl. There was no doubt this is the daughter of that Mad Man. _Is she as mad as he was?_ He hopes she is not, but how can he know?

 

Then he sees it, crawling and about to jump over her and he has no time but he shoots and screams. He barely has time to realize that Brienne has shot someone. The girl seems confused and angry but then realizes what Jaime did and orders her captains to return to their ships. 

 

“Ser Jorah, carry Ser Selmy inside and make sure someone tends to him” she shouts and then everybody is running and shooting again. In the confusion he barely notices a commotion on Stannis ship, they have no time, they have to run. 

 

“Are you hurt?” asks Brienne while they hide behind a ship. 

 

“No, why?” but she shoots at two of those creatures before replying him.

 

“That woman knew” and Jaime has now idea what she's talking about.

 

Before they have time to notice it's dawning again. They are all exhausted and they have lost many men that night, still they have lost less than the night before. Body parts are scattered on the forest floor, they work on gathering these and setting them on fire. It becomes a routine, fight, sleep whenever possible, eat what is left, fight, burn those who died, whatever part of them one can find. However the tide has changed, less of them die everyday but it still takes them a week to defeat these creatures. 

 

It might not have been a month, but Jaime feels he has been doing the same since he was born. An emptiness seems to fill him as the horror recedes. They should feel happy, they should celebrate but he knows he may not have a future. He still smiles at Brienne when she hugs him the first night they are not attacked. Many have died, some were almost friends some were people they did not know. Only the red woman seems worried about Stannis's injuries. 

 

Days later the men of the Black Army are reconstructing the building so they have a meeting outside. It is still cold but not as much as before and several fires help them keep warm.

 

Daenerys Targaryen is waiting for them, surrounded by her soldiers. That night they find out who the other two pilots of the Dragons were: Commander Snow and another Targaryen they call Aegon. Turns out he did not die during the last war. Each Dragons can only be controlled by one person, or at least that seems to be the case. 

 

“I have been told that you are Jaime Lannister” says Daenerys solemnly.

 

“Actually I am now Jaime of Tarth if you check the database, you can ask her as well” he points towards Brienne and some people laugh, he knows what is coming, he does not need to pretend to be a gentleman. 

 

Brienne's eyes widen and she tries to explain “It's true, he gave up his lands and name for me” but she only manages to make more people laugh. Somehow he is more sorry for Brienne than for himself, so young, innocent and already having to fight to avoid being a widow. He wishes he could console her, he wishes he could tell her everything is going to be fine. He can't do it. It is not going to be fine and he knows it.

 

“It does not matter, I know what you did, it was treason and murder” says Daenerys.

 

“Please, he has been fighting for many days, he did not run he came here, you have to acknowledge that” insists Brienne

 

“Ser Jaime has been honorable” says Pod. 

 

“That would be a surprise” says a familiar voice. “On the other hand my brother always enjoyed a good fight, don't you Jaime?”


	25. Brienne

“Lord Tyrion!” says Pod happily.

 

“Tyrion, you are alive!” Jaime's voice reveal happiness and relief.

 

“I am glad to see you are too, nice to see you too Pod, we will talk later. Now, Jaime, is it true you gave up all your rights?” says the little man looking at Jaime and Brienne carefully. 

 

“Yes”

 

“For this... woman...because you were forced to?” It is obvious to Brienne the man is trying his best not to laugh.

 

“No, we both agreed on it. In any case father had disowned me”

 

“This changes things” he says to Daenerys

 

“Not only this.” The girl looked at Jaime “You are a traitor and a murderer that deserves death. But you saved me and I decided to show mercy. If you have indeed renounced to your lands and name then you are free” she looked at Brienne “You are the Sapphire lady, Brienne”

 

“Yes”

 

“Many cities are in ruins, yours included, I was told about the advances of that city, I command you to rebuild it and to help other cities on achieving the same level of self-sustainability yours had, you will have men under your command and you shall be obeyed by them” many seemed surprised and some laughed “And I will not tolerate mockery from them”. That shut them up.

 

Brienne was still confused. Was this woman really asking what she thought she was? Such a huge task, such a huge responsibility. She felt flattered.

 

“As you command” she answers finally. 

 

She dismisses them. Tyrion, Commander Snow and Aegon discuss about solar panels and energy supply they will receive from Winterfell. They hear details about how the war of the South went. Daenerys had won with the support of the Martells and other cities were too happy to be rid of the Lannisters. Cersei had died, details regarding her demise seemed to involve Tyrion but curiously enough Jaime decide not to inquire much into it. She couldn't help being sorry about Jaime, almost all members of his family were dead and the only living member seemed to want to avoid him at all costs.

 

The Tyrells surrendered as well as the Greyjoys. Cities like the Vale, Riverrun and the Twins were almost completely destroyed. Some floating cities were in ruins but Tarth did survive. Stannis had died from battle injuries and the Red Woman seemed more quiet now than before. They also received news from Winterfell, the android lady had arrived but her mental state was considered unstable. It must have been difficult for the kids to see how her mother was turned into such a strange creature. Even those kids were terribly scarred. Shivering she remembered Arya's cold, strange eyes, Brandon in his strange machine and Rickon's nervousness and wildness. Sansa seemed to be the less affected by that war. _I kept my promise, my lady_ she thought, but she still felt guilty by what happened to Lady Catelyn and her kids. 

 

She had noticed that Jaime was resigned to die and that even to him it had come as a surprise that his life was spared. When the man told them about Cersei's demise he seemed strangely unattached. Later, as they went to bed she asked him how he felt. He admitted feeling a bit sad, but that he was sadder for how his kids had died. 

 

“In a way, I believe that day, she was dead to me, and since I already mourned her with our kids, there is nothing but emptiness now. I am mostly sad about Tyrion”

 

He then told her about Tyrion and Tysha, and why now her brother would not forgive him.

 

“There may come a time” she said “you may become closer again, he did ask for your life as well”

 

“Only because I renounced our lands” said him bitterly

 

“It may not only be that” she said hopefully 

 

He looked at her and smiled, but it was a sad smile. “I am amazed, how do you manage to stay so brilliantly pure and innocent despite all the chaos surrounding you?”

She blushed and played with their sheets nervously. 

 

Placing his good hand on her cheek, he kissed her. “Let's just sleep now, my love” and in no time he fell asleep.

 

Brienne was so exhausted she followed him shortly afterwards. When she waked up he was still sleeping and she still cannot believe they are both alive. That he is still alive. It is hard to believe that in a world where so many horrors could happen she can still have a chance to feel happy. He wakes up and sees her playing with his hair.

 

“Good morning, wench” he says smiling lazily 

 

She hits him in the shoulder “I am no wench”

 

“You are no lady either, what should I call you, pumpkin, honey?”

 

“I'll force your head into a pumpkin if you dare to do that”

 

“So you are into costume foreplay, you see, you are into some serious kinky stuff, I knew it” she can't hold herself and laughs at that. To think that she would have ended up marrying that man she had been forced to take to King's Landing, that man she loathed then. Not only marrying him but being happy at the same time.

 

“I think _you_ are, you probably _wanted_ to be tied to that chair” she says to him.

 

“Maybe we should try that, for good old times sake?” he says with a meaningful look. 

 

She raises an eyebrow and cannot stop laughing “bring the ropes”

 

She has more bruises than before, she knows she'll never be pretty and that she has so much work to do that she will probably not see the results in her lifetime but right now, what she had with Jaime, she wouldn't change a thing about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I finally finished this, it was fun! I wanted to explore some ideas and theories, so I did. Now I'll concentrate on the vampire thing. Thank you to everyone who read it.  
> If you liked it, let me know

**Author's Note:**

> Comments are always appreciated!


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